Falling Back
by MBrabs1996
Summary: Pepper finds out she's pregnant, but how will Tony and the rest of the Avengers react? Meanwhile, Loki escapes and is plotting his revenge, ready to take over Earth once and for all. With a new threat of war hanging over their heads, can the Avengers stop it once and for all? Please R&R. Story is better than it sounds.
1. Sickness

**A/N: Hey everyone! So, this is my first Avengers/Iron Man fanfiction, so please be nice. This takes place after both of those movies, but Tony never stopped being Iron Man! Hope y'all like it! Oh yeah, and in this story, Pepper and Tony are about 28 and 30, since the movie never exactly gave their ages :)**

Pepper Potts sat in the lounge of Stark tower, presumably doing work on her lap top while Tony was on his latest mission with the other Avengers. Pepper didn't like it when Tony risked his life, but as long as it was for the sake of humanity, she just had to deal with it.

"Why does it always have to be robots?" Tony asked, walking into the lounge, the others hot on his heals, holding an ice pack to his head.

"What happened to you?" She asked, getting up and rushing over to her boyfriend.

"Pep, i'm fine. Just a couple of bruises and a mild concussion. No big deal."

"No big deal? Tony_" She started, only to be cut off by the wave of dizziness and nausea as she rushed to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her and emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet.

"Pepper? Are you okay?" Tony asked, jiggling the door handle.

"I'm fine, just leave Tony. Don't worry about me."

Tony sighed and looked at the others, obviously worried for his girlfriend.

"Everyone leave, i'll talk to Pepper." Natasha ordered.

"But_"

"GO!" She shouted, her patience was running thin with them, and she could only handle them for so long without Pepper's help. She watched in amusement as Tony and the rest scrambled for the lap or their bedrooms.

"Pep? It's me, Tasha, can I come in?"

No answer.

"Virginia Potts, we can either do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way."

Silence.

_Hard way it is..._The assassin thought, and took one of her bobby pins, ever so carefully picking the lock and pushing the door open with ease.

"Alright, spill. What's going on with you?" Natasha asked, kneeling down beside her friend.

"I honestly don't know. I've never felt this weak before."

Natasha let out an irritated sigh, and it was several minutes before either of them spoke spoke or moved.

"Are you pregnant?"

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review, they make me happy :)**


	2. The Results

**A/N: Well, here's chapter 2. Hope y'all like it. I tend to skip around sometimes in my stories, but whatever I don't put in this story will be a deleted scene of sorts :D**

Pepper immediately stood up, trying to ignore the wave of dizziness that went through her entire body, using Natasha as support.

"No, I can't be. I shouldn't even be able to have kids." She explained.

Natasha sighed, "well, we could do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way. The easy way is simple. We go to the store and get you a pregnancy test."

"And the hard way?"

The red head smirked and opened the bathroom door ever so slightly.

"TONY!" She called, forcing her friend to slam the door once more and cover her mouth.

"Nevermind Tony! We're fine!"

"JARVIS! Tell Tony that Natasha and I are going to the store." The twenty-eight-year-old ordered.

"Of course Ms. Potts. Is there anything else?"

"No, that will be all for now."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …. … … … … … … …

After what seemed like hours, the test results were ready. Pepper hadn't realized she had been clenching Natasha's hands.

"Sorry" She said, letting go and standing up.

"It's fine, do you want to look or should I?" The black widow asked.

Pepper sighed.

"I will, we'll need to find out sooner or later anyway." She said, brushing her long blonde hair out of her face and cautiously entered the bathroom, her heart pounding in her chest as she saw the two pink lines staring up at her.

Positive.

The young woman dropped the test in the garbage under the cabinet and started to cry un controllably.

"Hey, it's going to be okay. You're going to be alright." She assured her friend.

"How am I going to tell him?" Pepper asked, sobs wracking her entire body.

"Tell me what?"

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think. Please review, they make me happy, especially on shitty days such as this :)**


	3. News

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated in awhile, I've been sick and just haven't felt up to it. Anyway, enjoy!**

Pepper and Natasha turned around to face Tony. The red head could tell Pepper still needed more time to get used to the idea of being pregnant before telling Tony.

"She was trying to come up with a way to surprise you for your birthday next week and to tell you that she was getting sick."

Pepper looked at Natasha as if to say, _really? That's the best you can come up with? _But sighed in relief when Tony seemed to believe it.

"Mmh, well let someone know if you need anything, Pep. Sure you're alright?"

Pepper nodded, ready to say something when JARVIS cut in.

"If I may sir, I believe all Ms. Potts needs is some much needed rest, and Ms. Romanoff is helping her with your surprise."

"Thanks, JARVIS."

Pepper gave Tony a quick kiss on the cheek and went down stairs to lie down on the couch with her laptop, Natasha keeping her company.

"Ms. Romanoff, Director Fury is on the line and requests to speak with all of you."

"Tell eye-patch that we have sickness in the tower and can't afford for him to get sick." Tony said walking into the living room.

"Stark! You do realize it's video chat, don't you!?" Fury exclaimed, coming onto the screen.

"Really? You hacked my AI?"

"Yes, now I have_why is Ms. Potts lying on Agent Romanoff's lap?" Fury asked.

Tony looked at the women before returning his gaze to the director.

"As I said before, there's sickness in the tower. And our favorite assassin just happens to be a very comfortable pillow."

"Right...Anyway, I have a mission for all of you. Thor, it seems your brother has escaped from Asgard. Your mission is to find him and bring him back to SHIELD, is that understood?" He asked, looking at all the Agents.

"Yes, sir, we'll find him and return him right away." Steve answered as everyone else sat in stunned silence.

"Good. I will see all of you at Headquarters first thing tomorrow morning for a rundown of the plan."

And with that, the call ended, leaving the rest of the group in awkward silence.

"What shall we do, friends?" Thor asked.

"We do the only thing we can do." Clint answered, sitting down next to Natasha.

"Which is?" Bruce asked.

"Find him and kick his ass"

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review, they make me happy :)**


	4. Emergency

**A/N: Hey guys, so, here's chapter 4. I'm sorry it's a little bit on the short side, but, i'll try and make up for it in the next chapter.**

Pepper sat on the couch with her lap top, trying desperately to keep her mind off the more recent turn on events in less than twenty-four hours. At some point in the middle of the night, Fury had called them, waking everyone up. Loki had been spotted in the heart of the city with a group of people, men and women alike, who Thor had figured out were friends of their father that had been exiled more than ten years earlier, and one was a mortal. She was worried for them, especially Tony, but knew deep down that the others wouldn't let anything happen to him, even Natasha, despite how much he annoyed the assassin. The twenty-eight-year-old got up upon hearing gun shots, not too far away from the Avengers Tower-formerly called Stark Tower-and that gave her a lot of anxiety.

"Well, either they found him, or they got into trouble with the authorities...again..."

Meanwhile, Natasha was caught in a shootout with one of Loki's men, both used abandoned taxi cabs for cover, neither particularly felt like dying tonight.

"Nat! You have one of them coming up behind you!" Clint said into the ear piece. Turning around, she sent the woman flying into a wall with a swift kick to the face, breaking the girl's nose in the process.

The next thing Natasha knew, a loud gun shot rang out, and she fell to the ground, clutching her leg and stomach in excrutiating pain. The last thing she remembered was Clint, Tony, and the others rushing to her side.

"We need a med evac for the Black Widow ASAP." He said into the ear piece, and tried to stop the bleeding in Natasha's leg.

"It hurts." She said, trying to keep on crying.

"You're going to be okay." Tony said, "JARVIS, alert Pepper of the situation and tell her all of us will be home soon."

"Right away sir."

Clint kissed the redhead on the forehead, trying to keep her from slipping into unconsciousness.

"Tasha, keep your eyes on me, don't fall asleep. You'll be fine. We'll have you fixed up at SHIELD and you'll be back at the Tower before you know it. Just listen to my voice."

However, she wasn't listening, no matter how much she tried, the assassin couldn't stay awake, even if her life depended on it, which it did. She was tired and all she wanted to do was take a nap.

She let her eyes slip shut, and everything went black.

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	5. Worry

**A/N: Hey y'all! So, as promised, I made this chapter a little bit longer. Hope y'all like it. Enjoy!**

Pepper stood up as the others walked in, Clint carrying an unconscious Natasha.

"JARVIS told me what happened. Is she going to be alright?" She asked, looking at each one of them.

"Well, they removed the bullet and said nothing really appeared to be life threatening, and that she would be awake in a few hours." Bruce explained, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Well, i'm going to go take Nat upstairs, goodnight."

Pepper looked at the clock to find that it was well past everyones bedtime, just after eleven-o-clock.

"What took you guys so long then?"

"Natasha needed surgery. The bullet barely grazed her femoral artery, so the medical team and Bruce worked for hours, a majority of the afternoon, to keep her from bleeding out." Tony said as Bruce nodded and went back up to his own floor for some much needed rest, while everyone followed suit, only Thor stayed awake to worry about his brother.

It was just short of noon the next day when Clint woke up and joined the others in the living room. There was a tense atmosphere that Pepper noticed, and what was even more odd was the fact that Natasha wasn't awake yet. The assassin rarely slept in past seven-thirty, eight if she was up late the night before.

"Didn't you guys say she should be awake by now?" The woman asked, sitting down next to Tony.

Bruce and Clint gave each other a knowing look, not wanting to say anything. The two men had looks of sadness in their eyes that didn't go un noticed by the blonde.

"She's awake. She woke up at three this morning."

"She must be really sick if she went back to sleep." Tony said.

_Oh if only you knew..._Clint thought.

"We must make sure lady Natasha gets well." Thor looked at everyone, standing up.

"Where do you think you're going, goldilocks?"

"To see how the lady fairs."

"I don't think that's a good idea unless you want your head getting ripped off." Steve said.

"Ah! The capsicle can talk! We thought you went mute."

Steve sighed, he was getting sick of Tony's insults, and he was about ready to snap. His patience only went so far.

Pepper sighed and got up, going upstairs to check on her friend, in the weeks since all the Avengers moved into the tower, she had almost become the teams mother. Not that she cared, she was dating Tony, who had the mentality of a six-year-old on most days.

"Natasha?"

No answer.

"Tasha, open the door, I want to speak with you. Don't make me get Thor and have him break down this door."

"She wants to be left alone." Clint said, walking up beside her.

"What happened that she wants to be alone?"

Clint sighed.

"It's not my place to say...she doesn't want anyone to know. For now it's just between us two." He answered, and Pepper could have sworn that she saw tears in his eyes.

"Well, I want to speak with her."

"I'll speak with her. Don't worry about it, you just go down stairs with everyone else."

In their bedroom, Natasha was lying under the covers, her eyes were red from crying throughout the night, and more tears threatened to spill down her pale cheeks.

Clint joined Natasha, his strong arms wrapping around her in a desperate attempt to comfort her.

"They care about you."

Natasha sighed.

"Drop it, Clint. I'll tell them when i'm ready."

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**

**P.S. A/N: PLEASE READ: So, I realized that the movie doesn't really mention everyones ages, so, here is a little thingy giving everyones ages.**

**Natasha-28**

**Tony-30**

**Pepper-28**

**Steve-30**

**Thor-29**

**Bruce-35**

**Maria Hill-25**

**Nick Fury-40**

**Clint-30**

**You're welcome. Some of these are the real ages of the actors in the movie, I believe the only ages that I made up were Clint, Tony, Fury, Bruce, and Pepper. just thought y'all should know :)**


	6. The Aquarium

**A/N: Hey everyone! So, in this chapter, y'all will find out why Natasha has been withdrawn from everyone! Enjoy! At the end it may be a trigger for some, so be warned.**

It had been three days since Natasha had last come out of her room, with the only person that she gave permission to go in there was Clint, and Pepper snapped, her last piece of patience nearing it's end.

"Alright, that's it! I'm getting Natasha, whether that bitch likes it or not we're going to the aquarium and i'm not gonna take no for an answer." Pepper said, getting up from the kitchen table.

"She's not going to come out. She wants to be left alone. And whenever she allows someone to go in, it's Clint, or her head is under the covers." Steve said.

"I believe lady Pepper is right, fresh air will do lady Natasha some good." Thor added, looking at Clint and Bruce.

Sighing, the CEO turned on her heel and went up to Natasha and Clint's floor.

"Natasha Alianova Romanoff! You have five seconds to open this door or i'm coming in after you!" She yelled, banging on the door.

"Go away if you want to live." Came the muffled reply. Not taking anymore of her friends bullshit, the blonde knelt down and picked the lock, thankful that she learned something from Natasha.

"Okay, one, you should have never taught me how to pick locks. Two, get dressed, we're going to the aquarium, all seven of us."

"Well, too bad, i'm not going."

"Fine, then you gave me no choice. Besides, you also haven't eaten in three days either, so you must be starving."

Before the assassin could say anything else, Pepper grabbed her by her arms, dragging her out of bed, Clint coming in moments later to help.

"Really Barton? You're in on this too?"

"Sorry, Tasha. I'm upset too, but you don't see me starving myself or moping here in bed." Clint answered, picking his girlfriend up.

"Fine, i'll go. But don't expect me to have fun. Now, would you be as so kind to...I don't know...put me down!?"

Nodding, he put her down and left with Pepper to leave Natasha to get dressed for the day.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … .. … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

The group arrived at the aquarium within an hour, Natasha, once again, had to be coaxed out of the car. The crowd stared in utter shock, surprised to see the Avengers at an aquarium of all places, but were smart enough to give them their space, only with the occasional visiter coming and asking for an autograph or a picture with them.

"I don't like this."

"You haven't even seen any of the animals yet! If you don't like this, you're going to love Discovery Cove, you can swim with Dolphins there. Oh yeah, after this whole thing with Loki is over, again, we're all going there this summer." Tony said, patting her on the back, making her glare at him.

"Where do you want to go first? Natasha?"

Natasha sighed, all she wanted to do was crawl in bed and shut out the world, and find Loki and kick his ass for what he's done.

"I suppose we can go see the Seals, first." She answered, handing her ticket to the person at the front gate, who smiled at her and stamped her hand, while Clint put his arm protectively around her.

"You know, i've never really liked Sea lions." Bruce said, watching as the two Northern Fur Seals, Sam and Jack, played.

"why not?"

"Although they're cute, they've always made me nervous."

"And this is the same guy that transforms into a green rage monster when he gets angry?" Steve asked, and everyone looked at him in shock. Did he actually attempt to make a joke?

"Friend Steve is right. It is most confusing."

"Hey Natasha, do you want a balloon animal?" Tony asked, laughing as he pointed to a man who was giving balloon animals to the kids in an attempt to make her laugh.

"You do and I shoot you."

Throughout the rest of the day, the group saw various animals, including; the Sting Rays, Penguins, and Sharks. It was around lunch time, and the group had successfully gotten their friend to eat for the first time since being shot and locking her self away in her and Clint's bed room.

"Can we go now?" Natasha asked, her green eyes sadly surveying each person that walked by, even the children, Pepper had noticed.

"No" Tony said, and started to get up, only for his girlfriend to pull him back down.

"Wait...we can go, but only if you tell us why you're so upset."

The redhead was getting annoyed at this point, and let out a frustrated sigh for the umpteenth time that day, and looked at Clint, who looked into her emerald green eyes with his blue ones.

"Tasha. Tell them." The archer ordered, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze under the table, his arm around her shoulders, and kissed her on the forehead.

"I had a miscarriage."

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please make sure to review :)**

**P.S. To get a good idea when said miscarriage happened, rather than put it all into one chapter, I made it into a little one-shot, it's called "Slipped Away" for those that are interested :3**


	7. Telling Tony

**A/N: Here's the next chapter! And in this chapter, Pepper tells Tony she's pregnant, I know a good majority of y'all have been waiting for it! This will be my last update until next thursday or so, I will be in Nevada until then :p**

The trip back home was awkwardly silent to say the least, only the occasional comment about the weather or Loki's latest plans. Everyone was thankful when they got home so they could do their own special thing.

"I can't believe you didn't know she miscarried!" Tony said, walking into the kitchen.

"Well, how the hell was I suppose to know? She doesn't exactly tell me everything! I admit, had I known she miscarried, I would not have chosen a place that had a lot of small children." Pepper answered, sitting down at the table while Tony went to the cuboard to get a bottle of scotch.

"Do you think Clint knew?"

"Legolas? Of course he knew! He's been following her around like a lost puppy ever since it happened." The billionaire answered, pouring Pepper some scotch, though she made sure to give it to Steve.

"I know what Natasha needs!"

"What's that?" Clint asked walking into the room with all but Thor following after him.

"Oh hey Katniss! How's Natasha?" Tony asked, handing Pepper another glass, which she politely declined, much to everyones shock.

"She's fine. Tasha's asleep...after crying for more than half an hour."

"Oh, anyway, what were you saying Pepper? And where's Thor?"

Pepper sighed, "Thor said something about making something for Natasha, a 'card of getting well' as he put it. Anyway, what Natasha needs right now is a puppy!"

"And, how are we getting this puppy?"

The CEO glared and gave him her, _are you fucking kidding me? _Look.

Tony sighed, "I know someone that breeds dogs. I could get the puppy here by the end of this week."

She nodded.

"Tony...Do you want kids?" She asked, briefly forgetting the others were in the room until they got up and left, feeling awkward.

"Yeah, the thought crossed my mind to have a couple of kids, why do you ask?"

"I'm pregnant"

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think!**


	8. Roxy

**A/N: Hey everyone! Here's chapter..oh fuck it! I can't remember, I was just on a damn plane for ten hours!**

For awhile, Tony just sat there in complete silence, unsure of what to say.

"How did_scratch that, stupid question, are you sure?" He asked.

Pepper nodded.

"Yeah, i'm a month along. I had a doctors appointment a couple days after finding out just to confirm. I didn't tell you because I thought you'd be mad." She answered, looking up at him with her piercing blue eyes.

"Why the hell would I be mad? I could not have chosen a better person to have a family with. You're being rediculous right now."

Pepper sighed.

"I know. I'm just concerned about Natasha with what's happened earlier."

"Well, Spidey's gonna be fine! She'll come around eventually. Soon she won't be so...depressed to put it gently...now, let's go get that puppy."

As soon as they got back, a little Rottweiler puppy in a carrier, they, Pepper, Tony, and Clint, made their way up to Natasha's room, to find the assassin completely passed out. Clint smiled and gently took the small puppy out, careful not to wake her, while Tony and Pepper watched from the door way. The archer, ever so gently, put the tiny eight week old puppy on his girlfriend's stomach, and nearly started laughing when it licked her in the face.

Natasha awoke and grabbed for the gun she keeps under her pillow, only to see a puppy in the place of a villain, staring at her with big brown eyes. She looked at Clint, then Tony and Pepper, then back at Clint, and down at the puppy.

"What the actual fuck?" She asked, lifting her arms up to her face in an attempt to shield herself from the unusual affection.

"It was Pepper's idea, she thought you needed a little friend to help you cope with everything that's happened." Tony explained.

Natasha sighed.

"Thanks for the concern, but as long as I have Clint, i'm fine. I don't need a dog." She snapped, glaring at them.

"Oh come on Tasha! Look at that cute little face." Pepper said, sitting down and holding the puppy up so the redhead could get a good look at her, making the Agent's heart soften.

"She is really cute. What's her name?" The assassin asked, stroking the female puppy's soft black and brown head.

"She doesn't have one yet. We decided to let you name her."

She thought for a moment before finally coming up with the perfect name for the Rottweiler.

"Roxy, it mean's 'star'" She explained, rubbing Roxy's tummy.

"Do you like her darlin'?" Clint asked, sitting down next to her, his arm draped over her shoulder.

"I love her. I hate to admit it, but she's just what I needed to help me get by after the miscarriage."

"Well, let's order some pizza then. Bruce and Steve are probably in the lab, hopefully Steve is keeping him from hulking out, and Thor is probably starving, as usual." Tony said, laughing, and for the first time in nearly a week, Natasha smiled.

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	9. Surprise Visitor

**A/N: Hey everyone! So, y'all will finally see Loki in this chapter, but I won't exactly say when! Enjoy!**

Over the coming days and weeks, Natasha slowly started to get over the miscarriage, much to everyones relief, although, certain things, such as families walking around, often triggered her sadness. Clint had also begun to feel better about it as well, even going on more missions with the others, wanting to find Loki badly to teach him a lesson. There had been neither sight nor sound of the God since Natasha was shot more than a month earlier.

"Well, he can't be working alone. The Chitauri hate him now for everything that he's done and want him dead."

"Yeah, but where could he be? He can't have gone very far, all we need to do is find the woman that was with him and then we find Loki." Steve said, sitting down and petting Roxy on the head.

As if on cue, Natasha came down to the lounge.

"Hey, guess who I found!" She called, holding one of Loki's accomplices in a choke hold.

"Where did you find her?" Tony asked, helping the assassin tie the other woman to a chair.

"In my room, snooping around." She answered.

"Wench, where has my brother gone?" Thor asked.

"Why the hell should I tell you?" She spat, her red eyes burning with hatred.

Natasha slapped her across the face, which would most definitely leave a bruise in the morning, and a split lip.

"If you don't tell us, the consequences will be severe. However, if you help us, we may be able to convince Director Fury to let you go free." Bruce said, sending Natasha a glare as she struck the woman again.

"Tell us where he is."

"No. I'd sooner die."

Natasha sighed and smacked her again, harder this time, and pressed her gun to the woman's head.

"Wait! I'll tell you! He's going to Stark Industries, I don't know why though, I swear!"

Steve stood up from his spot on the couch and the others turned to face him.

"Avengers assemble!"

… … … … … … … …

Pepper sat in her office at Stark Industries, her blonde hair had been pulled into a tight braid, she was dizzy and her morning sickness was beginning to take a toll on her, especially with all the drama that's been happening with Thor's brother. The CEO was thankful she only had another month of this.

_I really hate Tony right now. _She thought, and tried to focus on her work.

"Hello, Ms. Potts."

Pepper felt her heart leap into her throat as she looked up, facing the very person that she had never wanted to see or hear again.

Loki.

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review, they make me happy :)**


	10. Capture

**A/N: Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter, I hope y'all like it. I'm sorry it's a little short :/**

Pepper stared at the God as he slowly walked towards her, hands behind his back.

"Now, tell me, how did you ever get stuck with Stark?" He asked, closing the distance between them.

"That is none of your business. Now, I want you to leave."

"It's a shame, really. I don't have my ceptor with me. You would have been a nice partner."

"What's your plan?" Pepper asked.

Loki walked over to the window, deep in thought.

"World domination for the most part. And once I have gotten my revenge on the Avengers, maybe if you are a good girl, I will spare you and that...thing, planted inside your womb." Loki answered, brushing a strand of the woman's hair out of her face.

"How did you find out I was pregnant?" She asked.

Loki turned, facing his back to the door, not noticing that the others had come in.

"I have my ways."

Moments later, Loki collapsed to the floor, an hour protruding from his back.

"Is he...?" Pepper started, unable to continue the sentence.

"Dead? He is not, Lady Pepper. Our bird friend just shot him with one of our tranquilizers. Did you not, friend Clint?" Thor asked, looking at the archer, who nodded.

"Are you alright, Pep?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, i'm just dizzy, that's all." She answered, and started walking away.

The woman hadn't even made it to the door when she collapsed to the floor of her office, the last thing she saw, was the others running to help her, and everything went black...

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	11. Lilith

**A/N: Here's the next chapter! There's gonna be a new character added into this story, and you'll see how she plays a part soon! If y'all would like to see some more stories I wrote, I have some original stories that I would love to have feedback on! Here is the link to my profile if you're interested: user/MBrabs1996 **

Pepper awoke in a daze, her bright blue eyes looking all around her. The bright light hurt her eyes, and she could barely remember what had happened the day before, at least, she thought it was yesterday.

"Well, glad to see you're awake. How are you feeling, Pep?" Tony asked, sitting down next to her and giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

"I feel like I was hit by a bus, what happened?" She asked, struggling to sit up.

"You've been unconscious since yesterday, Loki paid you a visit at Stark Industries but you passed out. You and the baby are both fine though, you just got a little stressed out and had a low blood pressure problem, but nothing that can't be fixed with a little bit of bed rest."

"Where am I?"

"SHIELDS infirmary. We took you here after we apprehended Loki, we didn't really want you to be all alone at the hospital while we were here giving Jack Sparrow a de-briefing."

"Stark! I need you and the others in the meeting room in five minutes."

Tony sighed, _speak of the pirate..._

"I'll be back soon, will you be okay?"

Pepper nodded and closed her eyes, after all that had happened, she needed some much needed sleep.

"What is it now, mad-eye moody?" Tony asked, taking his place between Bruce and Thor. Nick sighed, moving out of the way where the group could see a little girl, no older than four or five. Her pale blonde hair was pulled into a tight side braid, her bright blue eyes looking around at everyone.

"Why is there a child here?" Thor asked.

"This is Lilith. Her parents died when she was a baby, and she has been in an orphanage ever since. But, the orphanage has since shut down after the owners died, all of the children were put into foster homes or permanent homes, all except for her. We have reason to believe that Loki may have been behind all of this."

"My brother is not a murder. He would never rob innocent children of a home."

"Thor, he killed eighty people and much more the last time he was here." Natasha answered coldly.

"As I have said before, he's adopted."

Steve put his head in his hands, tired of all this drama. Maria reached out and put a comforting hand on his knee, a gesture that didn't go un noticed by Tony, and he would be sure to give Rogers hell for it later.

"What do you want us to do about this?" He asked, trying to ignore Maria's gentle gesture.

"Lilith will stay with you at the tower until we could find a suitable home for her." Fury answered.

"Oh great, Pepper's gonna love that." Tony said sarcastically.

Natasha reached over and smacked Tony up side the head.

"Ow!" He shrieked, earning a giggle from the little girl.

Fury sighed, "right, everyone go home and get some sleep, I expect all of you here bright and early."

Everyone nodded and got up, ushering the little girl out the door as she clung to Natasha and Clint.

… … … …

The group and Pepper arrived back at the tower an hour later, they would have been back sooner had they not begged SHIELDS medical team to let Pepper go back with them.

"Puppy!" Lilith squealed, kneeling down to cuddle Roxy.

"Come on Lili, you can play with Roxy tomorrow, but right now, you need to get to bed. It's been a long day." Clint said, bringing her up to their floor and to the room that was just down the hall from theirs, leaving Natasha alone with the child.

"I don't want to leave." Lili stated.

"Why is that?"

"I won't feel safe anywhere else. Please don't make me leave. I like it here already, even if i've been here for less than five minutes."

The assassin sighed and looked into the little girl's bright blue eyes with her emerald green ones. The little girl's sad eyes almost made her heart melt, would this have been what her and Clint's child would have looked like had she not miscarried?

"I'll talk to Fury and the others about it tomorrow."

The redhead got up and turned off the light, but what the little girl said next made Natasha stop dead in her tracks.

"Mommy."

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review, they make me super duper happy :)**


	12. Plans

**A/N: Hey everyone! Here's my next chapter! I would have updated sooner, but my sister ruined my mood, by saying I need to watch what I eat and she and my dad insinuated I was fat -_- any who, enjoy!**

Natasha turned around and stared at the little girl, unsure of what to say next.

"Yes, Lili?"

"Can you stay with me until I fall to sleep?"

The assassin nodded, sitting down next to the child and holding her hand, firm, but gentle.

"Hey Nat, you coming to bed?" Clint asked, sitting down next to the woman, an arm draped around her, his gaze drifting to the little girl who was half asleep.

"She called me, mommy." She answered.

"What do you think, Natasha?"

"I don't really like the idea of her being put in a foster home with complete strangers. She'd be safer here with us, you and me."

"Well, you and I both know that Fury won't allow that."

"He might if we can convince him that she would be better off at the tower. Fury knows deep down that she'd be just fine here."

Clint nodded. Once Natasha had her mind set on something, there was no point in arguing with her. The archer gave the child a kiss on top of the head before grabbing Natasha by the hand and heading off to bed.

… … … …

The next morning, was awoken by a call from Director Fury.

"All of you need to be at base in forty-five minutes, a helicopter will arrive to collect all of you." He explained, before signing off, leaving the group standing alone.

"Someone should get Lili, I assume by 'all of us' he also meant her, we won't even bother with Pepper seeing as she's on bed rest for a couple weeks." Tony said, breaking the silence.

As if on cue, the little blonde headed child came into the lounge, hair unkempt, still in her pajamas.

"Where are we going?" Lili asked, sitting between Natasha and Clint.

"Well, Fury wants to speak with all of us." Clint explained.

"Are you goin' to talk to baldy about me, daddy?"

"Ha! Baldy? I like this kid! Maybe mad-eye will let us keep her, she's even adopted spidey and legolas." Tony answered.

"He's annoying, mama. How you stand him?" The four-year-old said.

"Oh wow, Tony just got dissed by a toddler."

The group of six and Lili continued to argue all the way to HQ, which let Maria know that they had arrived.

"Your kids are here, Director Fury." Maria said jokingly, and walked up to Steve, giving him a gentle pat on the back.

"Oooh. Steve and Maria sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes_" Lili started, only to have Fury cut her off.

"Enough!" He shouted, only to have the child stick her tongue out at him, making him sigh.

"Now, we have Loki. All we need now is to find out what his plan is and find his accomplices."

"Well, we have one tied up at the tower, in the basement. She was snooping around Spideys room."

"And you're just telling me this now, Stark?"

"With all due respect, sir, we had it handled. We were planning on interrogating her then give any information she gave us to you." Steve answered.

"Friend Steve is right. We have things handled Fury." Thor agreed.

Bruce nodded in agreement.

Fury sighed.

"Fine, then get on it! You're dismissed, but I need to speak with Barton and Romanoff."

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	13. Interrogation

**A/N: So, here's chapter 13! I hope y'all like it! I would just like to thank y'all that have reviewed, favorited, and followed this story so far! It means a lot to me that people actually like my writing! Enjoy!**

Natasha, Clint, and Fury sat in the meeting room, Lili sat on the ground drawing.

"Well, it seems like Lilith has grown attached to you two, care to explain?"

"Well, Clint and I talked, and both of us feel that Lili would be safer at the tower with us and_" Natasha started, but Fury raised his hand as if to silence her.

"And you two want to adopt her? No, absolutely not. You two have too many enemies that would not hesitate to find your weaknesses and use that against you." He said, about to continue when Lilith started tugging on his pants leg.

Fury sighed, "yes, child, what is it?"

"Please don't make me go, baldy. Don't make me leave mama and papa." She begged.

"We have no choice, Lilith_" Fury started, only for him to be caught off guard by the four-year-old giving him the puppy dog eyes.

"Just because that worked at the orphanage, doesn't mean_really? The lip quiver? That won't_"

Lili sniffed, a clear indicator that she was upset and starting to cry.

"Don't cry, child. Crying is for the weak_"

The little girl started crying harder, making Fury not know what to do, while Clint and Natasha watched in amusement.

"Alright, fine. You can stay at the tower."

"Yay! Thank you, baldy!" She exclaimed, hugging Fury around the waist before running off to go find the other Avengers.

"You two didn't teach her that, did you? Nevermind. I'll have the adoption papers ready for you sometime next week. You are dismissed."

… …. …

Back at the tower, the group worked on getting Loki's accomplice to talk.

"Now, we'll start easy, what's your name?" Steve asked, watching as Bruce kneeled down to assess the woman's bruises she sustained after being hit by Natasha one too many times.

"Maia." She answered, her voice cracking.

"What is Loki's plan?"

Maia looked up, her red eyes glaring up at the soldier and the others.

"Why the hell should I tell you?"

Natasha stepped forward, grabbing the woman by her long, blonde hair, holding a knife to her throat.

"Well, if you won't tell us, I suppose there's no use for you_"

"No wait!"

Natasha pulled the knife away from her throat, nodding as if to tell the woman to talk.

"He's planning on finding your weaknesses and destroying you. He wants world domination and he's not going to stop until he gets it." She explained. "Please don't kill me. I don't even want to be apart of Loki's plans. He threatened me, he said he'd hurt my sister if I didn't help him, and she's all I have left." Maia added, letting a stray tear fall.

"What do you guys think we should do? Spare her? Or hand her over to SHIELD?" Tony asked.

"I believe it should be up to Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton." Bruce said, looking at the two assassins.

"We'll send her to SHIELD. But not as a prisoner, Fury could use her help to take Loki down." Clint said.

Natasha nodded in agreement.

"Now, who's this sister that he threatened?"

Maia sighed.

"Jane...Jane Foster."

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	14. Jane Foster

**A/N: Hey everyone! Here's chapter 14, not much to say except that y'all will meet Jane in this chapter. Enjoy!**

The group stared at Maia, wondering if they had heard her correctly.

"I'm sorry, but did you say, Jane Foster?" Tony asked, waving his hand for Bruce to get Thor out of the room.

"Where's Jane now?" Steve asked.

"At a hotel on 39th street. The Holiday Inn, room 329." She answered.

… … …

Back in the lounge, Thor was pacing in the middle of the room with his hammer, annoying Pepper who sat reading a book.

"Why is Uncle Thor pacing?" Lili asked.

"We must not let my brother get to Jane." He answered.

"Thor...for god sake put the hammer down..NOW!" Pepper ordered, raising her voice ever so slightly. Thor looked at her, ready to argue, but the look the woman gave him made him think against it.

"Wow, you finally got Point Break to put the hammer down." Tony said as they came up from the basement.

"I will not hit a woman. Ever." The God explained.

"We're going to get Jane and bring her back here. Bruce is down in his lab if you need anything." Steve said.

Pepper nodded, not taking her eyes off her book.

"Is it any trouble watching Lili?" Natasha asked her friend.

"No, of course not. I adore Lilith. Be safe though, I don't want to have to plan any funerals." The blonde warned, half joking half serious.

"We'll be fine. We're just going to go and get Jane for Romeo over there and come right back. Should be no trouble."

.. … .. … ..

The small group arrived at Jane's hotel room, hoping the astrophysicist was there, if she wasn't, there was no telling when she would be back, but Thor would insist on waiting.

Steve knocked on the door, Thor practically breathing down his neck, which irked him.

"Stark, I hate to ask but, would you please shoot Thor with your suit?" He asked.

"Sorry, don't want to get struck by lightning again."

Steve sighed and knocked again.

"Coming!" A woman's voice called, and within seconds, they were looking into Jane Fosters warm brown eyes.

"Thor? Is that you?" She asked, peering past Steve at the God.

"Yes, lady Jane. Your sister has expressed her concern for you and asked us to come and get you."

"Maia? Is she okay? She didn't say much, she just dropped me off at the hotel with a credit card. I haven't spoken to her since." Jane explained, moving aside to let the group into the room.

"Maia's fine. Loki used you to get to her. She's been working with him." Clint explained.

"We came to bring you to the tower, it's not safe here. Pack your bags."

Jane nodded, not asking any questions and packed all of her clothes into a duffle bag before hastily leaving with the others.

"Why did we even bother changing?" Tony asked, looking at his red and gold Iron Man suit before looking at Jane in the rear view mirror.

"So, Jane. I'm Tony Stark, back there is Natasha and Clint, or as I call them Spidey and Legolas. Next to me is Steve, then obviously you know Thor. Back at the tower is my girlfriend Pepper, Lili, and Bruce."

Jane nodded, still over whelmed with the most recent events, and allowed her self to space out and watch the scenery pass by.

"So, I assume you'll stay with Thor on his floor?" Tony asked as they entered the lounge.

"Mama! Papa!" Lili shouted in excitement, running to the two assassins, Roxy in tow.

"Wow, you got a dog Stark? Who would've thought you were a dog person." Jane asked, scratching the Rottweiler behind the ears.

"It's not mine. It's Spidey and Robin Hood's."

The twenty-five-year-old nodded and turned to Lili, kneeling down to the child's height.

"Hey cutie, what's your name?"

"Lilith Rose Barton." She answered, using Clint's last name as her own.

"Red and Legolas here are in the process of adopting Lili." Bruce explained, making Jane jump in fright.

"I'm sorry for frightening you. I'm Doctor Bruce Banner, but here's a tip. Don't make me angry." He added, shaking her hand.

"Uhm...alright. This must be Pepper."

Pepper nodded as Jane walked over to where she sat on the couch.

"Hello Jane, it's nice to finally have another woman in this tower full of men." She joked, shaking the other woman's hand.

Jane smiled and turned around, facing the others, asking the question she had wanted to ask since leaving the hotel.

"Where's Maia?"

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	15. Laid Back

**A/N: Hey guys! So, here's chapter 15, hope y'all like it! I tried to make it a little more relaxed for the group, so i'm sorry if this is not my best chapter!**

The group led Jane into the basement where she gasped at how beaten Maia looked. The older woman had a black eye and a huge bruise on the left side of her cheek. Maia's lips were cracked and had been split open.

"Untie her. NOW!" Jane ordered.

Thor moved quickly to untie the woman.

"Maia? Are you okay?" Jane asked, hugging her sister.

"I'm fine, i've had worse. What about you?" Maia asked.

"Same, why didn't you tell me about what was going on? Why did you just drop me off at a hotel with a credit card and then leave?" She asked.

"I was trying to protect you, Janey. Loki threatened to hurt you if I didn't join him."

"Oh please. I can take care of my self, I don't need my older sister to protect me."

"I hate to break up this little reunion, but Maia needs to go to SHIELD HQ, Director Fury needs to speak with her and we'll decided where to go from there." Clint answered.

The two women nodded as the archer took Maia gently by the arm as the rest of the group sat down on the couch.

"He's bring her back...right?"

"Of course Jane. Friend Clint would never leave her there." Thor assured the scientist.

"So..anyone hungry?" Steve asked awkwardly.

"I vote for some chinese take out." Tony said.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Sir, Director Fury is on the line and wishes to speak with you." JARVIS cut in.

"No body's home!" He exclaimed.

"But sir, he says it's urgent."

"Send him through JARVIS." Pepper said, sending Tony a death glare, causing him to shrink back, making Natasha make a movement with her hands as if she was whipping something.

"I see you have Jane Foster...and what of Maia?" Fury asked.

"Clint took Maia to see you Director Fury, they should be there shortly." Natasha answered.

"Good. Now, we found his other accomplice. It's nothing of major importance, he was spotted alone on 42nd street, but I need all of you to come in first thing tomorrow for a debriefing so all of you can go catch that mother fucker." Fury explained.

"Wait, so this isn't urgent at all? You lied! I'm hurt, one eye."

Fury sighed.

"You'll get over it! I had to lie or else you wouldn't have let my call go through if I didn't...oh, and Rogers? I need to speak with you too, it concerns you and Agent Hill." He answered, signing off before any of them could reply.

"Ooh, Capsicles in trouble." Tony taunted.

"Quiet Stark!"

"Nah, I don't think I will."

"Tony, if you don't stop teasing him about his...affairs...you're sleeping on the couch for a week." Pepper threatened.

That shut him up.

"You're so whipped, Stark."

The whole group sat in awkward silence.

"So...did you guys hear about the girl that was raped at McDonalds?" He asked awkwardly.

"Well, that wasn't a very happy meal..." Natasha joked...wait..did the Black Widow seriously attempt to make a joke? The whole group stared at her before they nearly died laughing, many of them on the floor clutching their sides.

"That was a good one, Nat! That was set up for you!" Pepper exclaimed, trying to catch her breath, her face red from laughing so hard.

Lili just looked at everyone in confusion.

"What so funny? What's rape?" Lili asked.

"I'll tell you when you're older." The assassin said, trying to regain her composure.

Lili nodded before running off to go play as Clint walked in.

"Oh you missed it Legolas! Spidey made a joke!"

"She made a joke? Did she hit her head when she got shot last month?" Clint asked.

Natasha glared at him.

"No, but sometimes I get the over whelming temptation to jump off a building and see if the serum in my system gave me the ability to land on my feet." She said sarcastically.

"Yeah...let's not try that."

"That would not be wise, Lady Natasha." Thor agreed.

The whole group sat trying to catch their breath when Tony was the first to speak.

"Shwarma?"

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review!**


	16. Arguments

**A/N: Here is chapter 16, hope y'all like it! Enjoy :)**

The group arrived at SHIELD home base right on time, which shocked Fury.

"Stark is on time too? How'd that happen?" He asked, motioning for them to take a seat.

"Let's just say Pepper and Natasha were very persuasive."

"We dumped a bucket of water on him." Natasha answered, smirking at Tony as he glared at her.

"Right...anyway, I called you all here because we found Loki's other accomplice. His name is Brian Alexander Williams, he's thirty-years-old and is suspected of being responsible for a string of kidnappings and murders all over America, but charges were dropped and he was found not guilty due to lack of evidence. Just last night, he attacked one of my agents, catching her off guard. Then, the day before he was found scouting a local park, whether it was to look for his next victim or to fulfill Loki's plan, we don't know."

"Is the agent alright?" Thor asked.

"Yes, Agent Blanchard is just fine. She was able to get away from him with minimal injuries. She told us he tried to choke her and he stabbed her in the side, during the escape, she cut her wrist open. She's lucky she's even alive, by the time she had gotten to SHIELDS infirmary, she had lost almost half her blood. Your job is to find this son of a bitch before anyone else get's hurt. I want him found alive and to be brought here for questioning." Fury explained, looking at the six in front of them.

"So, let me get this straight, you want us to find this guy, who may or may not be involved with other crimes?" Tony asked.

"That's correct, Stark."

"We could barely defeat Loki and his plans last time, what makes you think we can do it again?"

"You doubting this, Tony?" Bruce asked.

Fury and Tony had no comment.

"You're all dismissed, go get ready. Rogers, I want to speak with you."

Everyone nodded and got up to leave, except Tony who stayed to watch the conversation between the two.

"What do you need to talk to me about, sir?" Steve asked, ignoring Tony's presence.

"It concerns you and your relationship with Agent Hill."

"Ooh, Capsicle's getting a lesson from papa bear. Never have seen this fatherly side of you, Fury. I'm not sure if I like it."

Fury glared at Tony, who shrunk back in his seat.

Steve cleared his throat, "what about our relationship, sir?"

"Agent Hill is one of my best agents, besides Barton and Romanoff, and I don't want her to be hurt, in any way, much less distracted."

"What are you trying to say?" He asked, his heart racing.

Fury sighed.

"I'm saying that, while you two can see each other, and you haven't exactly been trying your best to hide it, but are you serious about this? I don't want her to be distracted because her heart is broken."

"I would never hurt her, sir. You have my word."

"Wait, so Capsicle's actually banging Maria? Never thought i'd see the day."

"Stark, i'm not "banging" her. I'm not like you, now, stop it."

Both men stood up, staring each other down.

"What are you gonna do about it?"

"I don't know, put on the suit and we'll find out." Steve threatened, his blue eyes boring into Tony's brown ones, furious.

_If I wanted to deal with children i'd have had my own..._Fury thought, sighing in frustration.

Before any of them could reply, a loud explosion and gun shots from where the God of mischief was being held, could be heard.

"Put on the suit."

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	17. An Old Friend

**A/N: Hey guys! Here's chapter 17, I apologize if it isn't very good, I was up until 2:00 AM. Don't ask why, it's summer, lol. Enjoy!**

Steve and Tony got dressed and went down to the lowest level of the base, there was a big hole in the wall from where the explosion had occurred and Loki was no where to be seen, but it was in utter chaos to say the least. Clint was shooting arrows like there was no tomorrow and Natasha was in the cell room behind a pillar having a shoot out with two of Brian's goons.

"Stark! We need your help!" Maria called, running...no...rolling to the two, careful to avoid the array of bullets that were ricocheting everywhere.

Steve took in how disheveled Maria looked, she was bleeding from various places on her body, most likely from the explosion itself, and her head had cuts and bruises all over.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, it's Brian, he helped Loki escape, we have no idea where he is." She explained, brushing a strand of dark hair out of her face.

"Okay, well, go with Agent Anderson to the infirmary, Bruce will have a look at you." Steve said, passing Maria off to a young agent, no older than twenty, and the two hurried off, not giving Maria any time to argue.

… … …. ….

Meanwhile, Natasha was in a gun battle with Brian and two others, taking cover behind a nearby pillar, avoiding the array of bullets. The assassin had no idea where everyone was, but she could really use their help.

"A little help here guys!" She called into her ear piece, hitting one of the men in the shoulder.

"Sorry, Nat. We have a little situation, we're trying to get Bruce to calm down so he can help take care of the injured...well, let's just say he hulked out..." Clint trailed off.

Natasha sighed.

_Great, just my luck. _She thought.

"Hey, Nat!" Steve said, coming up beside her.

"About time someone showed up!" She muttered, taking one of her widow bites and throwing them at her opponents...thoroughly electrocuting one of them.

Before Captain America could respond, something landed right beside the pair, beeping, just loud enough for them to hear.

"Grenade!" She shouted, both ducked and covered, hidden by his shield, but a little too late at that. The force of the blast was so strong that Captain America was blown to the side, dropping his shield in the process, and hitting his head, almost immediately knocking him unconscious.

Natasha got up, coughing, there was smoke left over from the grenade and her widow bites, that she decided to let settle. The assassin crawled painfully out of the wreckage, several pieces of shrapnel lodged in her leg.

_This is not my year.._She thought, coughing.

"Hello Natasha, or should I say Natalia Romanova?"

Looking up, the red head looked and saw the barrel of Brian's gun pointed against her head.

"I haven't gone by the name Natalia in a long time!" She spat, her voice dripping with venom.

"I have a message for you from Ivan Petrovich. He expected more of you, we both did. You were his best prodigy, you could have been something. But you left...with _him_." Brian explained, pressing back on the gun, cocking it. As she backed painfully against the wall, she looked him dead in the eyes.

"Go ahead. Do it."

Before Brian had a chance to pull the trigger, something, or someone, came out of no where, tackling him to the ground.

"Stark? How much did you hear?" She asked.

"Enough to see that you need help. Clint and Thor handled the guys out in the hallway, the other guy was a little out of hand...Clint had to shoot him with a tranquilizer.." He explained, helping the redhead up.

"We better get you and spangles over there to the infirmary. Bruce will take a look at you guys when he isn't...green...anymore."

Natasha nodded, in too much pain to even argue, clutching onto Tony so that he was almost carrying her as well as Steve over his shoulder, fighting to stay conscious.

"Need help?" An all too familiar voice asked.

"No thanks, Coulson, I got it." Tony answered, stopping in his tracks, allowing a half conscious Natasha to drop to the ground.

"Coulson?"

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	18. Suspicions

**A/N: Wow...2 chapters in less than an hour!? What sourcery is this!? Enjoy!**

Tony looked Coulson up and down, confused. Coulson was supposed to be six feet in the ground according to Fury.

"How the hell are you alive?" He asked, poking him repeatedly.

"I'll explain that later. Right now, we have a Captain and an assassin to get medical attention for." Coulson answered, picking up Natasha while Tony picked up Steve.

"Friend Tony! What has happened?" Thor asked as Clint took Natasha from Coulson, taking a double take at the very man that was supposed to be dead.

"How the_" He started, but the agent held up a hand to silence him.

"I'll explain later"

… …. … …

Steve awoke hours later, confused, the last thing he remembered was a grenade and then everything went black.

"Maria?"

"I'm right here, hon."

"Where are the others?" He asked, worried for his fellow team mates.

"Clint and Natasha are with Bruce getting the shrapnel out of Natasha's leg, he's gonna get shrapnel out of me after he's done with them, I got most of it out on my own. Thor and Tony are with Fury trying to track down Loki." Maria explained.

"No, we're right here." Clint answered, walking into the room with Bruce and Natasha, giving said assassin a piggy back ride.

"Do we want to know?" Steve asked, sitting up with Maria's help.

"Well, Bruce and the other Doctors wanted Nat to stay the night for observation. They also ordered her to stay off her leg, but she didn't like that, so we compromised." He explained, setting his girlfriend down beside Maria.

"I'm fine. Just a little headache. How long until you don't need Clint as your own personal chauffeur?"

"Only a few days or so. The cuts left by the shrapnel weren't so bad...i'm just going to have a slight limp for a few weeks and some discomfort for maybe a few days to a week, other than that, i'm fine."

"So, I guess I owe all of you an explanation." Coulson stated, walking into the room moments later with Tony.

"You don't say?" Bruce asked, taking what was left of the shrapnel out of Maria's side and shoulder, cleaning the wounds on her face, giving the same orders he gave Natasha.

"Well, I had to fake my death and stay under the radar. Fury and I had it all planned out that I would stay under the radar unless I was desperately needed."

"But sir, we saw your body, it's nearly impossible to survive something like that."

"Maybe back in your days, Steve, but not with the advanced technology we have now." He explained.

"Why are my best agents in the infirmary!?" Fury yelled.

"Uh-oh, mad-eye moody is back..." Tony said, trailing off as Fury came in.

"Well, to answer your question...Capsicle has a mild concussion, Natasha got shrapnel stuck in her leg along with some mild anxiety and PTSD or as I like to call it, _The Red Room Syndrome_, and Maria also got some shrapnel and some cuts and bruises here and there." Tony added, causing the women and Clint to glare at him.

"What? I was being honest!"

"эгоистичным миллиардера мудак" Natasha muttered in her native tongue, earning a laugh from Clint at Tony's confused face.

"Any leads on where Loki is?" Maria asked.

"No, but at least he hasn't started a war...yet."

"Sir, what if he's not planning a war?"

Fury took Steve's words into consideration.

"Steve's right, Manhattan would be destroyed by now if Loki wanted war." Maria agreed.

Natasha stood up with help from Clint and Maria, and a disapproving look from Bruce, which she ignored.

"Director Fury, I know how Loki is getting all these accomplices." She said, ignoring the pain in her leg.

"Where do you suspect he's getting them, Agent Romanoff?"

Natasha sighed.

"The Red Room."

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	19. Brian

**A/N: Here's chapter 19! Hope y'all like it and I apologize that it's a little short! Enjoy!**

The group stared at Natasha, wide eyed.

"How do you know this?" Fury asked.

"Brian was Ivan's second in command in the Red Room, I don't know why he left or why he's with Loki, but what I do know is that we need to put an end to Loki and the Red Room."

"One thing at a time, Agent Romanoff. Who wants to interrogate Brian?" He asked, his gaze landing on Maria.

"I will Director Fury." Maria said, standing up and walking, no, limping, out of the room.

She arrived to the interrogation room to see Brian tied to a chair, his head down, only for Maria to slap him across the face.

"Look at me." She ordered, tilting his head up so that he was looking into her gray eyes.

"That's better, now, what is Loki's plan? War?"

"Go to hell." He spat, causing Maria to slap him again.

"Now, Brian, we can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way." She said.

Silence.

Sighing, Maria took out a tazer and tazed him in the side, causing him to cry out in pain.

"Ready to talk?" Maria asked.

"You...bitch." He coughed.

Slapping him, she grabbed him by his injured shoulder, causing the wound to bleed once more.

"Do you not understand what will happen if you refuse to talk?" She asked, walking behind him, she pulled out a coil, wrapping it around his neck and pushing him back towards her, allowing her to talk into his ear.

"Let me just tell you...let's just say, you can say goodbye to the Red Room and your precious assassins."

Brian remained silent.

"I had hoped we wouldn't have to do this, but..." The Agent trailed off, taking out her gun and pressing it to his temple.

"Wait! I'll talk!" He cried.

"I'm listening."

"Loki isn't planning war, he just wants you all destroyed, so it would make taking over easier for him."

"And what did he promise you in return?"

"He told me he would let me have Natalia and allow me to take her back to Russia." He answered, finally looking Maria in the eyes, only to have her punch him in the face, not enough to knock him out, just enough to stun him.

"Listen carefully, she has not gone by the name Natalia in a long ass time, and she will never go back. Not as Natalia, and not to that horrid place. She would rather die." She spat, hitting him once more before turning on her heel and walking out.

"Where did you learn to interrogate like that?" Bruce asked.

"Natasha." Was all the woman said as she rushed back to the infirmary to stay with Steve.

"Hey, where's Tasha?" She asked as she walked in.

"Clint took her back to the tower." Steve answered, moving over to make room for her.

"How'd the interrogation go?" He added, putting an arm around her shoulder.

"Horrible. Let's just say Brian said some things and he's going to be sore for awhile." She answered.

Steve smiled and kissed her on the cheek, allowing her to lean in to him and drift off to sleep.

_I hope we find Loki soon..._

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	20. Gone

**A/N: Do I seriously need to do this? Here's chapter 20, yada yada yada enjoy!**

"Agent Hill wake up!" Tony snapped, waking both Maria and Steve up in the process.

"What's going on?" She asked groggily.

"They found Loki, for being the God of mischief, he isn't very hard to find."

Maria sighed and got up as Tony began to walk out.

"And where do you think you're going, Stark?"

"Back to the tower...I have unfinished business with Agent Romanoff."

_****Earlier that day****_

Pepper and Natasha stood in the kitchen, waiting for everyone else to get up as they cooked breakfast. The smell of bacon and pancakes filled the whole tower, even waking up Tony, who was usually the last one to pull his lazy ass out of bed.

"Something smells good." He said, coming into the kitchen with Clint and Thor.

While the archer and Thor wore pajama pants and shirtless, Tony was wearing just his boxers.

"Do you boys not know what a shirt is in this house?" Natasha asked, exasperated.

"What? Am I sexier than Robin Hood for once?"

"You wish, Stark. I'm actually surprised that you remained faithful to Pepper, with your status as a playboy and all." She said, a bitter edge to her voice, "Will someone go wake up Jane, Lili, and Maia?" She asked, starting to put some pancakes and bacon on everyone's plates.

"No need, we're already here." Jane said, walking into the kitchen with her sister, who held Lili, who was taken by Clint. Both girls wore a tank top, but while Maia wore shorts that just barely reached her thighs, Jane opted for more appropriate dark blue pajama pants.

"What got you in a bad mood, Spidey? Are you pregnant?" Tony asked, annoyed that the assassin would even insinuate such a thing.

The billionaire froze in his spot as the woman picked up a knife and threw it at him. He watched in fear as it whizzed past his head and into the wall behind him.

Natasha said nothing, only slammed down the frying pan onto the table and walked briskly out of the room, Clint handing their daughter back to Jane, as the little girl asked what was wrong immediately following after her.

"What's wrong with Mommy and Daddy, Aunt Jane?"

"Mommy and Daddy are just a little...worried, right now." Jane explained, glaring at Tony.

"Natasha, let me in." The archer ordered, jiggling the door handle.

"No Clint. Go away."

"Nat_"

"Go, I just want to be left alone! What part of that do you not understand?" She yelled, her voice cracking.

Clint sighed in frustration, standing there for a few more minutes before leaving. Upon hearing him leave, she collapsed onto her bed in a sobbing heap.

Clint walked into the main lounge, ready to kill Tony, only to see Pepper had beaten him to it, minus the killing part.

"Tony! Was that really necessary?" She asked, pacing back and forth in front of her boyfriend, who sat with his head in his hands.

"She insinuated that I was unfaithful!"

"I know, and that was really out of line for her to say. But you really hurt Tasha! The poor girl miscarried not even two months ago!"

"She's just being too sensitive..." He grumbled, Pepper stopped pacing and turned to look at him, her eyes showed fury and frustration at what Tony had just said.

"No, you're being too insensitive Tony! How would you have felt if it was me that had miscarried instead of her?" She asked, resting a hand on her stomach, the faintest baby bump hidden by her blouse.

Tony said nothing, only sat there, ignoring her.

"Exactly! Now, go apologize to her and don't come back until you do!" She barked, pointing to the elevator...that was until JARVIS interrupted them.

"I'm sorry to interrupt Mr. Stark, but Director Fury would like you to inform Mr. Rogers and Agent Hill that Loki has been Located. He would do it himself, but he's busy at the moment."

Tony looked at Pepper and moved to kiss her, only for her to duck behind him and walking away hastily, calling out,

"No kissing until you apologize! And you're sleeping on the couch until you do!"

_****Present time****_

Natasha lay on her bed, her knees pulled up to her chest, wearing only a black sports bra and black yoga pants.

"Tasha, it's Tony. Can I come in?" He asked, knocking on the door.

"No, you're the last person I want to see right now, Stark."

Tony sighed in frustration for the umpteenth time that day, it wasn't even noon and already he wanted to down a whole bottle of vodka. Bending down, he picked the lock with a closet hangar, thankful Clint had showed him how shortly after the New York invasion. He pushed open the door and it hit the wall with a loud bang, causing the assassin to sit up, her red rimmed eyes glaring at him.

_Great...she's been crying..._

"What do you want?" She asked, grabbing one of Clint's t-shirts and pulling it on over her head, Tony looked down to her hand to see the white, blood stained tank top she had been wearing that morning wrapped around her hand.

_I can't believe Pepper's making me do this._

"Look, Natasha, i'm sorry about what happened earlier."

The redhead looked taken aback, was Tony Stark actually apologizing? To her of all people?

"I'm sorry, what?" She asked, putting a hand up to her ear as if she hadn't heard him.

"God, you're really gonna make me say it again? I'm sorry about what happened earlier, I just thought that you had forgotten about it."

Natasha's harsh laugh surprised Tony.

"You never forget something as traumatic as the Red Room or a miscarriage. Ever. That kind of stuff stays with you forever."

"I know, and again, i'm sorry. You don't have to forgive me, Nat. But we're all a family...a very fucked up family, but we're family. And even if we get under each others skin, we're always there for each other and care."

"I forgive you, Tony. Usually I don't forgive quite so easily, but, since you seem so genuinely sincere, i'll let this slide, just this once. Can I just ask...did you hit your head when you tackled Brian to the ground yesterday?"

"Haha, very funny...And can I just ask what happened to your hand?" He asked, motioning to the blood stained shirt wrapped around her hand.

"Uh...I broke a picture frame...with my fist...and then I punched a wall."

"Is the wall okay?"

Natasha rolled her eyes and ambled out of the room, heading to Lili's room, assuming she had been put down for a nap, courtesy of Pepper.

She stopped dead in her tracks, Tony nearly running into her as they entered the four-year-olds room.

Natasha lost it, letting her guard down, and let out a blood curdling scream that caused Tony to cover his ears.

Lili was gone.

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Will Lilith be okay? Or is she just giving old Natasha a good scare? Will I ever stop talking like this? Please review :)**


	21. Trouble

**A/N: Well, here's chapter 21, i'm starting to run out of plot for this story, so if any of y'all have ideas, please tell me! Enjoy!**

Natasha, Tony, Clint, Thor, and Bruce searched the whole tower for the little girl, or for any sign as to where she was.

"Wasn't in the lab!" Tony called.

"The small child was not in any of the rooms." Thor agreed, sitting down on the couch with a groan.

"Lili wasn't in the training room."

"Why would she be in a training room?" Natasha asked, crossing her arms.

"I may have been teaching her..." Clint started, trailing off as Natasha put up her index finger to silence him.

"We'll talk about that later...JARVIS? Do you know where Lili is?" Natasha asked.

"Ms. Potts wanted me to inform you and Mr. Barton that she and the two Fosters went to bring Lili out for a girls' day. They said something about meeting Agent Hill and Mr. Rogers at the park. My apologies, I must've forgotten to inform you." The AI explained, allowing everyone to breathe a sigh of relief.

"You could've told us that an hour ago!"

"Again, my apologies."

Natasha rolled her eyes and went upstairs, returning moments later with one of her guns and throwing knives.

"Where are you going?"

"To calm down. Better in the training room than in here. Let me know when Pepper returns. Don't break anything."

* * *

_****The park****_

Lili sat in the soft green grass of the park under a large oak tree, presumably drawing, on the other side of the park, Pepper sat with Maia and Jane, carefully watching the four-year-old.

"Aunt Pepper? Why are we waiting?" She queried, walking over to the three women, unaware that she had been being watched.

"We're just waiting for Aunt Maria and Uncle Steve, then we'll be heading to lunch." Pepper explained.

Lili nodded and proceeded to go back to the oak tree and continue what she had been doing.

"Should we tell her the real reason Nat's been upset this morning?" A voice asked.

Maria.

She and Steve sat and watched Lili with them, intrigued by the child. She seemed so resilient, so innocent. Maria couldn't possibly understand why no one adopted her before the orphanage burned down.

"We'll tell her when she's older. She doesn't need to know right now."

Maria turned and glared at Pepper, who shrunk back under the woman's lingering gaze.

"Now, would you mind telling me why you felt it was okay to bring Lili to the park without consulting Natasha or Clint? Natasha called me up screaming, 'Lili's gone! Lili's gone. Someone took her. Loki took her.' She was completely freaking out. And Natasha never freaks out, so she was clearly on the verge of an anxiety attack." Maria told her, pressing her lips together and averting her gaze.

"JARVIS didn't tell them? We brought Lili out today because she was concerned. All this morning at breakfast she kept asking, 'where's mommy? Is she okay? Why is there a knife in the wall?' and looked at us with those big blue eyes. We didn't want to answer her because we felt it wasn't our place to say exactly what happened. Clint obviously didn't want to tell her. So we brought her here. With the intentions of going to lunch and then the mall later."

Maria sighed and leaned back on the bench. She had been the first one that Natasha had told about the miscarriage and that day she had gone to the tower while everyone else was out and comforted the distraught assassin. Natasha had already been through so much, she hated seeing her friend crying and upset, and she and Clint had tried desperately to make her leave the bedroom and get out. But that failed...usually with the woman throwing something at them, either a knife or a picture frame.

Lili still sat under the oak tree, curious as to what the women were talking about that seemed to be getting Maria all flustered.

"Hello Lili." A voice said from behind her.

Standing up, confused, her blue eyes found a man with shoulder length dark hair, his pale skin almost glowed against the sunlight, his green robes appeared to be too long for him, dragging on the ground as he walked towards her.

"What's that?" She asked, pointing to the septor and back up at the man.

"It's my septor...it gives me my power."

"Who are you?"

"I am Loki...of Asgard."

"Oh. So you're Uncle Thor's brother...you don't look evil...just weird."

Loki sighed.

_This child talks too much..._

"Why don't we take this elsewhere?" He asked, pointing with his septor to the woods, just a mere fifty yards away.

Lili shook her head, getting increasingly nervous, her blonde hair blowing in the soft breeze.

"No thank you, i'm not supposed to go with strangers."

"Why do you not want to go with me? Do I frighten you?" He asked, circling around the small child who shook her head and took a step back. Out of the corner of her eyes as Loki brushed a strand of hair from her face, she saw the group of adults had gotten up, Maria taking out her phone to call Director Fury and Agent Coulson. All she had to do was stall the God long enough for the adults to get to her.

"No, I'm just not allowed to go with people unless I know them." She answered, taking another step back.

The little girl let out a blood curdling scream as Pepper grabbed her, holding her close to her chest.

"Well, Ms. Potts. So lovely to see you again, give me the child." He demanded, holding out a pale hand as if waiting to be handed a valuable object.

"No. What purpose is she to you?"

"The Red Room that all of you talk so much about has of great need for her."

Pepper scowled at him, she had been told some information about the Red Room, but just that they had trained little girls to become assassins. Natasha never spoke of such abuse she suffered through.

"Why is the Red Room of any interest to you?"

"Since they have started giving me their best trained assassins for help. Destroying all of you."

"Go to Hell"

Loki took his septor and aimed it at the woman and the little girl, who cringed and buried her face into Pepper's long hair.

The CEO closed her eyes, embracing for impact, if it weren't for Lili who had her in a death grip or the fact that she was three and a half months pregnant, she'd have lunged at him right then and there, using a few self defense moves Natasha had taught her back after the first New York invasion.

When the blow didn't come, the woman opened her eyes to see Maria holding her by the arm as if to steady her, and Steve in front of them, holding his shield. She had hardly noticed the two of them approach.

Loki was no where to be seen.

"Where'd he go?" Pepper asked, standing up, Lili still holding her in a death grip like a child who had just woken up from a terrible nightmare.

"He disappeared...again...what about you? Are you okay?" Steve asked worriedly.

"Yeah, i'm fine. We should be getting back anyway, let everyone know what happened. Fury will probably want to speak to all of us for a debriefing at some point."

The group nodded and started to walk the short distance to the tower, stopping briefly at a small bakery to get some food for Lili, who had complained that she was hungry.

"Can I just ask why you felt it was necessary to get between Lili and Loki in your condition?"

Pepper didn't answer, only looked straight ahead, her heels clicking against the hard concrete as they briskly entered the elevator, Lili asleep in Pepper's arms, and rode up in silence to the main lounge.

* * *

Upon entering the main floor, the group saw the lounge in complete disarray. One of Clint's arrows had gotten stuck in the ceiling, cracks forming around it as Clint's bow lie off to the side right next to Tony's suit that lay in a heap of metal on the floor, a hole had been left in the wall, probably from Thor's hammer and some picture frames had also been smashed in the process.

The coffee table was lying on it's side and silly string was everywhere. On the walls, the ceiling, the counters, the stairs, everywhere. Amongst the mess, Clint, Thor, and Tony were on the floor, empty beer bottles lay all around them.

Surprisingly, Bruce and Natasha were nowhere to be seen, which relieved Maria, but she remained calm and collected on the outside. The last thing she needed was to deal with a rampaging Hulk or a rampaging assassin.

The men looked up to see a very red faced Pepper tapping her foot, pursing her lips, instead of her arms crossing her chest, they were on her hips, which was never a good sign.

Uh oh.

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	22. Anger Management

**A/N: Hey y'all! Here's chapter 22, hope you like it...let's just say Tony is in big ass trouble! Enjoy!**

The men stared wide eyed at the women, Maria appeared to look far more annoyed than angry.

Pepper sighed.

"Maria, Steve, Maia, please take Lilith to Bruce and send Natasha up." She ordered, turning towards the three to her left, handing the little girl to Maia, ever so carefully as not to wake the child up.

The blonde waited until the elevator doors closed before she and Jane turned back to the men, noticing Clint and Thor out of her peripheral vision try and sneak away un noticed.

"Stop" She ordered, pointing an index finger at them, making the two stop and inwardly cringe, slowly turning around to face her.

She pointed to the couch where Tony sat.

"Sit"

Clint and Thor sat, shoulders hunched, hands in their laps, defeated.

"Stay...now, would you care to explain who's idea this was?" She asked, sighing as the Demi-God and archer pointed at Tony.

"Of course. I'll leave Jane and Tasha to talk with you and Thor, Clint, as soon as i'm through with_"

"I can already tell y'all that Thor is sleeping with Bruce tonight."

"But lady Jane_"

"No Thor. It's not like i'm breaking up with you, I just need you to be punished, because you have obviously never been punished on Asgard. I'm sure Bruce wouldn't mind having you bunk with him for a few days." Jane said, before turning on her heel and leaving in a huff.

"Now, Tony...would you mind telling me...WHY THE HELL THIS PLACE IS A MESS!?" She shouted, making them jump.

"I didn't think it would be that big of a mess."

"No! You didn't think! You NEVER think!"

"Have I told you how beautiful you are when you're angry?"

Pepper glared at her boyfriend.

"I must be pretty damn beautiful because I am furious!"

"Isn't that the same thing?" He asked, shrinking back down into the couch as the pregnant woman took a step closer to him.

"No, furious is mad times three." Clint answered, earning a glare from the philanthropist.

"What exactly were you thinking!?"

"Pepper, the baby_" Tony started, only for Pepper to smack him, which made Clint and Thor snicker as Tony held his cheek.

"Answer the question! The baby is gonna be fine once I calm the hell down!"

"Thor, Clint, and I wanted to have a guys day since all you girls', minus Natashalie went out, we didn't think it would cause a lot of damage..." He explained, trying to calm Pepper who was on the verge of an anxiety attack.

"Wouldn't cause a lot of damage? There's a hole in the wall, your suit is on the floor...Clint, your arrows are all over the place, in the wall and the ceiling, picture frames are broken and silly string is everywhere!" She exclaimed, lowering her voice down to a harsh whisper, as brief wave of dizziness over came here.

"Okay, it seems a lot worse than it actually is."

Pepper brushed off the dizziness and scowled at Tony, who shut up, not wanting to get smacked again.

"What the hell happened? Where's Lili and Jane?" Natasha asked, coming back into the room with Steve and Maria, Maia arriving shortly after. She stood next to Pepper, arms crossed.

_Of course, Tony, why do I even bother? _She thought.

"Lili's fine. She's with Bruce in the lab, and i'm pretty sure Jane is in there too. As for them, they thought it'd be a good idea to have a silly string war for guys day."

Natasha sighed, placing her hands on her hips, her green eyes glaring at Clint furiously.

"I think...Clint...that i'm sleeping alone for a few days. Clint...just...sleep in one of the extra bed rooms on our floor." The assassin ordered.

"But Nat, it wasn't even my idea!"

"Clinton Francis Barton! I don't care who's stupid fucking idea it was, you were still involved! I don't even want to look at you right now...not for the rest of the day at least." She answered, pursing her lips the way she always did when she got mad or annoyed, before she let out a frustrated sigh. Resisting the urge to hit something and causing even more damage, she sat down on a chair next to the fireplace, putting her head in her hands.

"Clinton? And your middle name is Francis? Did your parents hate you or something?" The billionaire asked, Pepper glared at him for the umpteenth time, appalled that Tony could still joke at a time like this.

"I wouldn't talk right now Anthony Edward Stark! You are sleeping on the couch for the next week. Now, I have to go for a de-briefing at SHIELD, and when I get back, everything better be cleaned up and put away. Do I make myself clear?" She asked, looking at the three men.

No answer.

"I said, do I make myself clear?" She asked again, placing a hand on her three and a half month pregnant belly.

"Yes, lady Pepper."

Thor spoke for all of them, standing up and immediately moving to pick up his hammer.

The CEO sighed and walked briskly out, punching the elevator button as Natasha and the others followed, ready to deal with Fury at SHIELD's home base.

_This has been an eventful day..._

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	23. Bets and Realizations

**A/N: Here's the next chapter, there's nothing much to say, so enjoy!**

"So, let me get this straight, Loki is working with the Red Room, given the promise that they would supply assassins to help him take over." Fury said, pacing in front of them.

"That's correct. He spoke with Lili, we heard a good portion of it." Maria said, taking a seat next to Pepper and Natasha.

"And what possessed you to get between a lunatic God with Daddy issues and a four-year-old." He asked, turning his gaze to Pepper.

"I was thinking about protecting Lili, Director Fury. Natasha wasn't there and I was the only person close enough to get to her."

"And where were Agent Hill and Agent Romanoff?"

"I was calling you, sir. Natasha was back at the tower, we were just thankful no body was hurt and that Captain Rogers had his shield on hand." Maria explained, looking at the Director.

"Well, next time, you let someone else grab Lilith, Ms. Potts. And let someone else take care of Loki." He said, addressing Pepper with a stern gaze, making her force a nod.

"What do we do, sir?" Steve asked after remaining silent throughout the de-briefing.

"We find Loki, send him back to Asgard as soon as possible, then shut down the Red Room as soon as we have enough evidence to believe it's still active as Agent Romanoff says." Fury explained, looking at Natasha before sitting down at his desk.

"You're all dismissed. Ms. Potts, tell Mr. Stark and Agent Barton I would like to speak with them." He added.

* * *

The women and Steve arrived back at the main lounge to hear an interesting conversation between the other men, too engrossed in cleaning up to notice that they were being watched.

"I'm telling you, Robin Hood, give it until marriage it's capsicle and Maria we're talking about." Tony said, cleaning up the last of the silly string as Clint grabbed an arrow and started picking up pieces of Tony's suit.

"What about me and Steve?" Maria asked, taking off her jacket and placing it on the coat rack.

"Oh, hey Agent Chill, aren't you supposed to be with Jack Sparrow?" Tony asked, taking his suit from Clint as Thor picked up the broken picture frames.

"He gave me the rest of the day off." She stated, grabbing the glass of scotch from the kitchen counter and sitting down on the couch.

"He gave you a day off? The only time he gives someone a day off is when they're compromised...no offense, Legolas, or on medical leave...that's my scotch by the way." He rambled.

The brunette rolled her eyes.

"I think you've had enough to drink." She said, nodding her head towards the trash bags full of beer bottles, soda bottles, and left over junk food.

"Now, what about me and Steve?" She asked, looking back at Tony then to Pepper.

"Oh, Tony didn't tell you? He, Clint, Natasha, and Fury have a bet to see how long it will take for you to move into the tower. Tony bet marriage, Clint originally bet a week, but it's been a month so now he's saying six months. Natasha originally said three months but now she says a month, two at the most, Fury bet first year anniversary." Pepper explained, giving a sweet, forced smile to Tony.

Yep. She was still mad.

Maria turned to look at Tony, Clint, and Thor, then back to Natasha.

"Then you should know, Agent Romanoff and Barton, that there are bets between me and Fury along with half of SHIELD."

"On?"

"I bet Fury that you and Barton would be married within three months and he bet you would run off to another country and elope." She explained, taking a sip from her scotch.

"Well, at least i'm not still a virgin." Natasha said coldly, allowing for everyone to stare at Maria in shock.

"You're still a virgin?" Tony asked.

Maria put down her scotch on the now upright coffee table, clearing her throat.

"Well, Stark, not all of us lose our virginity in highschool. Besides, i'm waiting for the right time." She explained, exchanging a look at Steve before getting up and leaving the room in a hurry, obviously embarrassed.

Steve followed her, glaring at Natasha as he did so.

_Great. Now it's my turn to apologize..._She thought, following after them a few moments later, taking rest of the scotch with her.

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	24. More Bets & Agreements

**A/N: *looks at reviews and sees 69* hehehe 69...anyway! I decided to update again today for the heck of it, and it's summer which means I have no life...enjoy!**

Natasha found Steve and Maria in the training room, presumably having an argument.

"Maria, i'm sure Natasha didn't mean to say what she did." Steve explained, trying to calm the woman.

Maria stopped pacing and glared daggers at her boyfriend, who took a step back.

"Of course, you would take her side. Everyone always takes her side!" She snapped, turning around, arms crossed, breathing heavily.

"No honestly, I just think_"

"Is this a bad time?" Natasha asked, stepping into the room.

Maria turned around and glared at the assassin.

"What do you want?" She asked, taking dangerous steps towards the redhead, her step never once faltered.

"I came to...make amends...it wasn't my place to announce that you were still a virgin, and for that, i'm sorry. I was just mad." She answered, allowing for Maria to close the distance between them.

"And how the hell do you think I feel, Natalia Romanova? You have obviously never been embarrassed or hurt in the ways I was."

Natasha almost cringed at the use of her old name, but remained stoic, never once correcting Maria or exposing about what she suffered from for years as a result from the Red Room.

"You honestly have no idea how much I want to slap you, right now." She added, continuing to pace once more.

"Go ahead."

The brunette abruptly stopped pacing and looked at her friend, walking right back up to her.

"What did you say?"

"You heard me. Go ahead, slap me, I figure we'll be even. I told everyone you were still a petty virgin, you can tell everyone you slapped me."

"You're bluffing. The moment I touch you you'll either try to strangle me or throw me out of a window." Maria explained, and turned around as if to leave, "oh, and you're forgiven." She added, before abruptly leaving the room.

* * *

Maria, Steve, and Natasha walked back to the main lounge, as Tony worked on fixing the cracks in the ceiling.

"Oh hey, it's the virgin Mary and the virgin Spangles." He greeted them, earning Natasha a glare from Maria, making the assassin sigh and say,

"I'll be with Lili, don't break anything else, Stark." She said, before taking a beer out of the cooler, giving it to Maria, and leaving in a hurry.

"Where's Pepper?" Maria asked, kicking off her black boots, sitting her and Steve on the couch, her head on his shoulder just as she had been before a certain red haired assassin pissed her off.

"Up on our floor, she's still mad. Legolas is down stairs with Thor sulking, trying to find a way to make Natasha and Jane less angry. Jane is in the lab, and Maia went shopping, something about Natasha's birthday."

"Oh yeah, her birthday is next Friday, I almost forgot."

"March twelfth is her birthday?"

"Who's birthday do you think it is? We should throw her a surprise party, usually i'm not one for parties, but, not only is it her birthday, it's also the sixth year anniversary that she joined SHIELD." Maria explained, putting her bare feet up on the coffee table, earning a dirty look from the genius, which she blatantly ignored.

"Okay, why not just move in already? You already act like you live here." Tony explained, gesturing to the Agents feet on the table and the beer in her hand.

"It's crossed our minds a few times." Was all she said before putting the beer down and getting up.

"Well, i'm going to take a nap." She said, giving Steve a kiss on the cheek before she entered the elevator, making her way to the soldiers floor.

"So, she should move in?" Steve asked, running a hand through his blonde hair.

"Obviously, Spangles, I mean look at it this way, she's at SHIELD almost everyday excluding weekends unless eye patch calls us all in for an 'emergency meeting' or 'team building' and when she's not there, she's here with us, albeit, getting on my nerves. If you're still unsure, Jane moved in and she and Thor are hardly in what one would call a 'serious relationship'"

"Oh, it's not that i'm concerned about. It's the fact that you'll either kill each other or she'll drive you mental by the end of the week. You can barely handle her at SHIELD." Steve said, chuckling at the hurt expression on his friend's face.

"Let's bet on it then. If I can go the first week without going mental or trying to kill her, you owe me ten bucks and you have to run around the block in your underwear. If I do go 'mental' or try and kill her before the week is up, then I have to go a week without my lab and follow your orders, no questions asked."

Tony held out his hand, allowing for Steve to shake it cautiously, his eyes never once leaving Tony's.

"Deal...so, who wins the bet about Maria and I?"

"I hate to say this, but, Clint, Fury, and I owe Natasha thirty bucks each...damn woman." Tony answered, before going back to fixing the ceiling.

"What the hell did you expect?" Steve asked, finishing the last of Maria's beer before heading back to his room to let Maria know what was going on.

Tony shook his head, grumbling something about it being, 'pick on Tony day' before saying something to no one in particular,

"Now, if I could just get Bruce a girlfriend."

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	25. Break In

**A/N: So, towards the end of the chapter, there's gonna be a little bit of action! WARNING: Character injury!**

Maria awoke disoriented, unsure of where she was until she realized she had fallen asleep at the tower, just as she did almost every weekend.

"Agent Hill, Mr. Stark would like me to inform you that it's time for breakfast." JARVIS said.

"Whatever happened to dinner?"

"It appears you slept through dinner last night miss. Mr. Rogers forbid anyone from waking you." The AI explained.

Maria groaned and looked at the clock on the bed side table and saw it was 6:30 AM. She groaned again and rubbed at her tired eyes until she rolled-literally-out of bed, slowly making her way upstairs.

"Does no one sleep in anymore?" She asked, walking into the kitchen.

"Woah, what's up with your hair? Did someone plant a birds nest in it?" Tony asked, flicking her unkempt hair with his finger, earning a scowl from her in the process.

"Well, at least I got to sleep in a bed, Stark!" She snapped, pointing her finger at the couch over in the lounge.

That shut him up.

Maria sat down at the table, serving her self some blue berry pancakes and bacon when she realized how hungry she really was, grabbing a seat next to Steve.

"I don't get how you girls' can all eat like pigs but be so skinny. Do you not have your woman problem yet?" Tony asked.

"It's called a period, Stark, and no, it's something called a metabolism." She answered, taking a bite of her pancakes.

"Health class helps, you know that right?" Natasha added.

Pepper cleared her throat.

"What's everyone doing today?" She asked, sitting down on the other end of the table, far away from the billionaire, obviously still angry.

"Fixing the hole in the wall with Thor and Clint." He said, making the other two who had been involved with yesterdays events nod in agreement.

"Jane and I will be in the lab doing experiments. Not sure about Maia, I think she's going to be with Natasha." Bruce explained, looking at the redhead in question.

"Yes, Maia asked me to teach her some self defense, I believe she went out for a run. She should be back shortly." Natasha said in agreement.

"Well, I will be going back home for a bit and do some work for SHIELD."

"And i'll be going there after my workout in the gym to help her pack, she's moving in." Steve added, giving a confused Maria a small smile.

"I am?"

"Yes ma'am, remember? You agreed to it yesterday."

"I was also half asleep, but, if I agreed to it, then I guess I am moving in."

The group nodded as Clint and Tony each gave Natasha thirty bucks, mumbling something about telling Fury that Natasha won the bet.

* * *

Maria sat back in her bedroom at her house a couple hours later, doing work on her lap top. Although, throughout most of the day, the woman couldn't help but feel she had been being watched since leaving the tower, her gray eyes occasionally scanning the area around her before going back to work, typing on her computer, furiously.

Maria looked up once more upon hearing what sounded like foot steps in the long hallway out side her bedroom. The twenty-five-year-old stopped typing once more and grabbed her gun before getting off the bed.

"Hello?" She called, padding into the hall way.

"Who's there?" She added, descending down the stairs in a hasty manner, heading into the kitchen.

The kitchen window was open, and Maria knew for certain that she hadn't opened the window and that it had been closed when she had arrived home.

Someone was in her house.

The front door closed with a slam, confirming her suspicions. Turning around, her gun still pointed at the door, she closed and looked the window. As she did so, her gaze settled on the beeping object that had been placed discreetly by the window, where she wouldn't have noticed it.

_10...9...8...7...6...5..._

Her gray eyes widened in fear and she lunged to the side, trying to get as far away from the bomb as possible as it exploded with a loud bang.

Maria landed under the kitchen table, hitting her head in the process, as debris landed all over the place, pieces of the wall and shrapnel littered the floor around her, her gun skidded across the floor, far out of her reach.

Slowly, she tried to get up, ignoring the throbbing pain in her head and the dizziness that made her vision go blurry.

Fumbling around in her pockets, she grabbed her cell phone and with trembling fingers, dialed Director Fury's number.

"_Hello?" _Fury's gruff voice answered, obviously annoyed about being called at 9:00 AM, but the fact that he even answered her call, made the Agent sigh in relief.

"Director Fury.." She coughed, growing dizzier by the minute, the smoke still thick from the explosion. Fury immediately sensed the woman's distress in her tone, and knew something wasn't right.

"_Agent Hill, is everything alright?" _He asked, his voice as calm as he could manage, when in fact he was worried for one of his best. Maria, Natasha, and Clint were like the children he never had, and it would crush him if something happened to any of them, although he would never admit it, he also cared for the other Avengers, despite how they got under his skin.

Anxiously, he waited for her reply.

"No, i'm_" She started, only for another explosion further off in the distance to cut her off, cracks began to form on the ceiling, pieces of the ceiling falling onto the table, trapping her there.

If she wasn't scared before, she was definitely scared now.

The Agent was overwhelmed and ended her call with Fury. She tried to sit up again, finally managing to get onto her hands and knees, noticing that she had fallen in some type of fluid.

With shaky breaths, she picked her hands up out of the strong smelling fluid, realizing at that exact moment what it was.

Gasoline.

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	26. Fire

**A/N: Here's another chapter! Hope y'all like it!**

Maria immediately tried to get away from the gasoline and all the debris that surrounded her, already seeing the flames begin to form. As she moved to get up, something held her back, her foot was stuck under some fallen debris, the smoke making her mind foggy, becoming weaker as the smoke became thicker.

She could only hope someone would find her before she began to asphyxiate.

"Sir, Director Fury is on the line. He's adamant that it's urgent." JARVIS explained as Tony was in the middle of fixing the wall.

"Send him through. I'd rather not have him hack into the system and send him through and send the others up. I assume he needs to speak with all of us."

"Most importantly Mr. Rogers sir."

Tony took a seat on the couch, shocked that the whole group was up there within minutes, all squeezing onto the couch, except Pepper who took a seat on the floor next to Thor.

"What is wrong, Fury?" Thor asked, his hammer at the ready.

"It's Agent Hill. She called me and seemed to be in a great deal of distress, I have good reason to believe that she's under attack due to all the explosions I heard. Your mission is to get to her place as soon as possible, get in, get Hill, and get out. I will send in SHIELD's medical team incase anyone is injured." He explained, before disconnecting the call.

The group wasted no time in getting up from their seats, Steve practically running to the elevator.

"Romeo to the rescue!" Tony called, following after him, tripping over his own feet and running into the wall in the process.

"Nice one, Stark." Natasha said in response, clapping her hands, earning a glare from Tony as he made his way to the lab.

When they arrived at the Agent's house, they were stunned at what they saw. Maria's house was up in flames and there was debris everywhere, most likely from the explosions that Fury claimed to hear.

"Okay, Stark, you go in the air and keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Bruce, stay here and wait for medical backup, I have a feeling we're gonna need it, Natasha and Clint, head up to the roof, but be aware of the flames, stay close to where Stark can see you if you end up dangerously close to the flames. I want you guys to find a way to get inside if I need it. Thor, you're with me, you and I will get in, grab Maria, and get out as soon as we can." He explained, trying to remain calm, but it was obvious to everyone as they dispersed that their friend was a wreck, if Maria died or was hurt in any way, Steve would blame himself.

The soldier ran to the burning house, burning his hand on the door knob as he tried to push the front door open.

"Shit. The doors jammed, someone must've done this to make sure no one could get in or out." He said through the comm. Link, his heart beating a mile a minute, sweat already started to form on his face as a result of the hot flames.

"Allow me to help, friend Steve." Thor said, swinging his hammer at the door.

The wooden door crashed to the ground with a loud bang, Steve gave Thor a pat on the back and they entered the burning house.

Smoke filled the whole house, no one could see even a foot in front of their faces, and Steve started to go into a coughing fit as a result, using his shield as a defense against the sparks of flames that threatened to burn them.

"Maria!" He called, coughing once more.

Thor handed him a piece of cloth that he just so happened to have on hand and handed it to his friend to cover his mouth and nose.

"Steve?" A weak, hoarse voice responded, followed by what sounded like vomiting.

"Where are you?"

"The kitchen. Under a table." She choked, coughing for the millionth time.

The two men ran into the kitchen, to see Maria trapped under the table as she said. From her ragged breathing and vomiting, the men could tell she was starting to asphyxiate. The woman's eyes appeared red from the agitation that the smoke had caused, and her corneas appeared to show signs of burns, she looked deathly pale, her hands shook, severe burns on them as well.

"Maria, hon, you've got to get out of here, can you do that?" He asked, examining the burns on her hands. They were already beginning to blister and bleed.

"No, i-i'm stuck." She choked, coughing up blood this time.

"Thor, give me a hand. Clint? Have Bruce on stand by it doesn't look too good." Steve ordered, not even waiting for a reply, he and Thor took hold of the table, and shoved the table, albeit struggling, to the side. Steve mentally thanked the serum for giving him the added strength.

Maria struggled to remain conscious as her boyfriend lifted her into his arms.

"Maria, darling, keep your eyes on me. Don't fall asleep." He ordered, another explosion to his left made him duck, lifting his shield just in time, burning his hand in the process.

"Dammit" He muttered, trying to avoid all the flames as Thor pushed on ahead of them, managing to get them out of the house, breathing a sigh of relief when they saw Bruce hadn't hulked out, but he did look a little green.

SHIELD's best medical team was already there by a helicopter, as promised by Fury, to bring Maria back to base. The super soldier put Maria on the gurney, allowing for the medical team to put an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose in an attempt to get the smoke from her lungs and help her breathe.

The Agent shared a brief look with Steve, reassuring him that she was going to be alright, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. Her vision went fuzzy once more and succumbed to sleep, falling unconscious.

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :) I can promise you though that the next chapter will be happy.**


	27. Waking Up

**A/N: Hey y'all, here's chapter 27, hope you like it!**

The group waited anxiously in the hallway outside of the infirmary as the doctors worked vigorously to save Maria's life, Steve nervously paced back and forth.

"Steve, she's gonna be fine." Tony assured him.

"How do you know that? You didn't see her in there, she looked so helpless, so weak." He said, turning to face the billionaire.

"Anthony Edward Stark! What exactly were all of you thinking!?" Pepper yelled, walking down the hall way towards the group.

"That a friend was in trouble?" He said, looking into Pepper's blue eyes with his brown ones.

"Yeah, but a burning building, Tony? How is she?" Pepper asked, her anger immediately fading to worry.

"We don't know, no one does. She was hurt pretty bad." Natasha explained as a young SHIELD doctor walked out of the room, turning to face the group, her brown eyes immediately finding Steve.

"How is she?" He asked, walking up to her.

She motioned for him to sit and faced the rest of the group.

"Agent Hill will be fine, she will be expected to make a full recover. We're actually surprised that she survived in there as long as she did, any other person would have been killed in the first ten minutes from a fire if they didn't get out fast enough. Maria had traces of soot in her throat and her nose, we managed to clear some of it out, and she got severe burns on various parts of her body. As Captain Rogers told us, she did start to show signs of asphyxiation and at one point we thought we would lose her. On the way over here, she did start to stop breathing and she had a seizure as well, we were able to get her stable and she can breathe on her own now, although she may experience some shortness of breath as the rest of the soot tries to clear from her lungs and throat. She has a sprained ankle from when she tried to get it free from under the table that had collapsed on her. Agent Hill is now conscious and alert, which surprises me, we had expected her to remain unconscious for the rest of the day, and she's asking for you." The doctor, who's name was Jaycee, explained, looking pointedly at Steve.

Nodding, he got up, giving the blonde doctor a firm hand shake and his thanks, before walking into the room. As soon as she saw him, Maria's eyes lit up like that of a child on Christmas morning, and sat up, painstakingly.

"Hey do you feel?" He asked, pulling up a chair and sitting beside her. True to the doctors words, her hands and her ankle were bandaged.

"I'm fine, a little sore, but i'm fine. Thank you, Steve, if you and the others hadn't gotten there when you did, i'd have died." She answered, taking his hand in hers, noticing the burns he had also sustained on his face and hands, albeit, not as bad as hers, but still pretty bad.

"You're hurt." Maria stated, brushing her hand along the burn on his cheek, careful not to irritate it.

"I'll be fine, nothing I won't recover from, i've had worse. I'm just glad you're okay, had you died Maria, I would have never forgiven myself." He said, kissing her on the forehead.

"Well, it wouldn't be your fault anyway, no ones fault but my own. I should have just left as soon as I saw the window was open and knew someone who didn't belong, was in my house...I guess this means I really do have to move in now, huh?" She joked, giving Steve a small smile in an attempt to change the subject.

"When can I leave?" She added, taking in her surroundings around the room.

"Tomorrow. They just want you to stay here for observation, to make sure there are no complications."

Maria nodded, brushing a strand of her dark hair out of her face as the others walked in, Natasha had her puppy, Roxy, who she set carefully on the bed.

"Figured you could use a little cheering up." The assassin stated, allowing for the Rottweiler to kiss the Agents hands ever so gently.

"So, Agent Chill, how's it going?" Tony asked, Maria glared and looked around at the group, only to notice Thor was no where to be seen, neither was Bruce.

"Where are Bruce and Thor?" She asked, stroking the puppy's head as it snuggled up against her.

"Something about going back to the tower to prepare for your arrival. They don't want you to be OCD when we get back or something."

"So, answer my question."

"I'm just awesome, minus the fact that I almost died and lost all my belongings in the fire." She said sarcastically, giving Tony a steely glare.

"Actually, not everything, Clint and I found something." Natasha said, reaching into her black bag and pulling out Maria's laptop, covered in soot, but still looked fine.

"You went into my burning bedroom to get my computer? That was so stupid Nat, my God!" The woman reprimanded the redhead, taking the computer from her friend, who sat down beside her.

"Well, we figured it had important information on it, and don't pull Clint into this, he tried to stop me...but he failed..."

"You punched me in the throat!" Clint snapped, allowing for Natasha to roll her eyes.

"But still, Maria's right. You had no right to leave where Steve put you just to grab a lap top." Pepper added, gesturing to the computer that Maria now held, looking up as Director Fury walked in, looking Maria over.

"Agent Hill, take the next couple of weeks off on medical leave. Leave it to them to find Loki." Fury said, "how do you feel?" He added, looking at the bandages that covered the woman's hands and ankle.

Maria sighed.

"Next person that asks me that i'm going to throw them out of a god damn window."

"Do you know why someone set your house on fire?" He asked, ignoring her threat, as Pepper placed a gentle hand on Maria's shoulder.

"Honestly, I don't, it may have just been a random attack for all I know." She answered, giving a look to Steve as he scoffed and got up, holding onto the bed rail for support.

"It wasn't just a random attack. I should have told all of you sooner, but I was more concerned for Maria at that point." He explained, looking at everyone, his gaze finally falling on Maria, before looking back up as everyone waited for him to continue.

"What are you saying?" Fury asked, taking a step closer to the soldier.

"She was someone's target."

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	28. Memories

**A/N: Nothing much to say about this chapter except it might not be as good as my other ones due to the fact it's 2:15 AM.**

Everyone stared at Steve as if he were completely insane and delusional.

"How did you come to this conclusion, Rogers?" Fury asked.

"I saw something strange, a knife, and it definitely was not yours, Maria, it must've been dropped by the person in their rush to leave. In the sheath of the knife, there was a note...it was very...alarming." He answered, looking at Fury with wide blue eyes.

"Do you have it with you?"

Steve nodded, reaching into his back pocket and pulled out a small knife covered by a sheath, similar to Natasha's. Fury took it from the soldier and pulled the blade out of the leather sheath. It was a silver dagger with various writing in different languages on it, more notably Russian. The Director reached into the holder and pulled out the small rectangular piece of paper.

_Kill her and leave no evidence you were ever there. She knows too much, bring SHIELD down and get rid of their best Agents._

The note read, Fury sighed and put it back in along with the knife, turning back to Maria.

"Do you know anyone who would want you dead, Agent Hill? Any enemies?" He asked, looking at her with his usual stern gaze.

"We make enemies every time we put ourselves out there." She answered.

"Let me see the knife." Natasha ordered, taking the knife from Fury's hands without even waiting for an answer.

"I know this knife. It has the same inscriptions that the knives the Red Room has on it, but how would you know someone from the Red Room?" She asked, passing the knife to Maria who took it, looking at Natasha who seemed intent on getting the knife away from her, her hands actually shaking.

Maria's hands shook as well, taking the knife out once more, the name that was on the blade stood out to her like a sore thumb.

EJ.

She dropped the knife on the tile floor and closed her eyes, putting her head in her hands, letting the memories overwhelm her.

_****Flashback****_

_**An eight-year-old Maria Hill sat in the living room of the small apartment she shared with her father, ever since her mother had died in child birth it had just been the two of them, and the child knew her father, William, resented her for it.**_

"_**Maria!" A gruff voice slurred.**_

_**Maria stood up, her eyes widening in fear as she turned to face her drunken father.**_

"_**Yes, Daddy?" She asked innocently as the man approached her, her arms folded behind her back. She could smell the alcohol on his breath as he crouched down to her height.**_

"_**How many times do I have to tell you...grow up!" He yelled, slapping her across the face, nearly knocking her off her feet.**_

_**William grabbed her by her long, wavy dark hair and shook her violently.**_

"_**Daddy, stop!" She begged, making the drunk man push her to the ground, kicking her in the stomach repeatedly.**_

"_**You're a worthless waste of space. I curse the day you came into the world, you killed her! It should have been you instead!" He yelled, kicking her one last time, this time in the face, effectively breaking her nose, and stormed off to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.**_

_**Maria wasted no time in getting up and running out of the apartment complex, even though she knew she'd get into even bigger trouble for leaving. She ran as fast as she could, ignoring the aching pain in her stomach and her face, only stopping when she was a safe distance away, the park.**_

_**The little girl sat on the bench.**_

_He's right, I am worthless, I killed Mommy.** She thought, holding her knees against her small chest.**_

_**The eight-year-old was suddenly aware that she was being watched, and moved to get up as quickly as she could, only to be grabbed roughly and a cold, sharp knife put up against her delicate neck.**_

"_**Don't scream or you die." The voice said coldly, it was a woman's voice.**_

_**Maria looked up, careful of the knifes sharp edges and saw the girl appeared to be no older than her teens, fifteen at the most, her pale blonde hair pulled into a messy bun.**_

"_**What do you want?" She asked, glaring at the woman.**_

_**Maria had learned a long time ago that showing fear was a weakness, and she would not give the woman the satisfaction of seeing her in distress. If she died, she would die fighting, and she would die with dignity.**_

"_**You and I are going to take a little field trip to Russia. We have someone who shows a great interest in you. I will take the knife from your throat if you're a good little girl and promise not to scream." She sneered.**_

_**When Maria didn't answer, the other girl pressed the knife harder against her flesh, drawing blood that trickled down the front of her shirt. She examined the blade, it was silver with a jagged tip with some type of inscriptions in a foreign language, the initials, 'EJ' stood out. She nodded and the woman cautiously took the knife away from her throat.**_

_**In one quick movement, she elbowed EJ in the stomach and stepped on her foot as hard as any eight-year-old could, giving enough time for her to run away.**_

"_**Help!" Maria called, running down the almost deserted side walk, seeing as it was almost midnight, until she finally ran into a young man, no older than thirty-five with brown hair, he was wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants, probably returning from a late night job or working out.**_

"_**Sweetheart, calm down, what's wrong?" The man asked, grabbing the little girl gently by the arm, trying to get her to stop thrashing around and trying to pull away from him as he examined the cut on her neck.**_

"_**A lady is chasing me! She threatened me and tried to take me away! She had a knife!" She cried, hugging the man around the waist, tears streaming down her face.**_

"_**Shh, it's alright. We'll worry about her later, i'm going to call the police and then take you to the hospital and get that cut checked out, alright?" He asked, holding out his hand to her.**_

_**She took it reluctantly and they made her way to the mans car parked a little distance away, calling the police on the way over just as he had promised.**_

_At least i'm away from that crazy lady..._

_****End Flashback****_

Maria looked back up at the group, unshed tears in her gray eyes.

"I remember it like it was yesterday, it never occurred to me until Natasha joined SHIELD that I realized the woman had tried to take me for the Red Room." She explained, reaching up with her bandaged hand, she felt the scar that the very knife she was holding had given her so many years earlier.

"Her full name is Ella-Jade McCarthy, she was part of my group in the Black Widow Ops program. Before Clint was sent to kill me, EJ and I had a fight, which resulted in me nearly choking the life out of her, I left her to go on my mission, pretty damn sure that I had killed her, by accident, I hadn't meant to try and kill her, just show her who was not to be messed with since I had been there longer than she had been. She wasn't the best to be honest. Never covered up her tracks, as you can tell." Natasha explained, gesturing to the knife.

"My guess is that she targeted Maria because she knows me, EJ knows SHIELD, and Maria got away from her. The rule of the Red Room is to leave no survivors or witnesses. That's what the blade says." She added, her voice cracking.

Clint could tell the assassin was dangerously close to having a breakdown, she was shaking and she was deathly pale, skittish, ready to bolt at the first possible sign of a threat, just like she had been when he had spared her life so many years earlier, especially after the psych evaluation the woman had to endure to prove that she had, in fact, been brainwashed and not in her right mind as a nice way of putting it.

"Do you believe the, Red now when she says the Red Room is still active?" Tony asked, leaving against the wall on the far side of the room.

"I'm starting to, more and more everyday as much as I hate to admit it."

"We don't know if this EJ girl is even still alive. For all we know, it could be someone else who obtained her belongings." Pepper said, finally speaking after what seemed like hours of staying quiet, listening in on the conversation

Nick sighed, frustrated, it was a long day and all he wanted to do was find Loki, send his ass back to Asgard, and deport the so-called helpers back to where they came from.

"Have Dr. Banner run some tests on it." He ordered, taking the knife from the Agent and handing it back to Clint, who nodded as Natasha stormed out of the room. Which left it to Tony to state the obvious.

"Someone isn't happy."

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	29. Blood

**A/N: Hey everyone! Not much to say here except this may be a trigger for some! Enjoy!**

It had been three days since Maria's house had been burned down, and the woman's injuries were healing rapidly, faster than burns usually heal. Her bandages had been taken off now, but they still hurt occasionally. Since the incident, Maria had been plagued by nightmares, and it worried Steve, but whenever he asked about it, he was given the cold shoulder.

"Hey Maria, do you know where Capsicle is? I need to talk to him about something." Tony asked, sitting down beside the woman on the couch.

"I'll tell you where Steve is if you tell me where Nat is." She promised, turning to face him with her arms crossed.

"Nat is in Clint's latest nest, up in the vents. She's been there for the last three days, only coming down to do the necessities that are associated with living."

"Well then, Steve's in our room." She said, getting up and bending down to take the cover off the vent, seeing as she was the only one small enough to fit in it besides Lili, and crawled into it, leaving an amused Tony behind.

It didn't take her long to find Natasha, who sat cross legged on the cold metal surface, her computer in her lap, typing away.

"What's wrong, Nat?" Maria asked, sitting across from the redhead, gently taking the computer out of her hands and putting it aside.

"Nothing, i'm fine."

"So, avoiding people and hiding in the vents for three days straight is 'fine'?" She asked.

"Maria..." Natasha warned, her voice as cold as ice.

"Natasha..." She mimicked, ignoring the warning as the other woman glared at her and sighed.

"Fine, have it your way! I haven't been completely honest about what I went through in the Red Room."

Maria nodded, encouraging her to continue, wanting to hear what she had to say.

"Throughout my time there, I had been emotionally, physically, and sexually abused. At least once a day, I was either beat or raped, and if I failed a mission, I was often beaten to within an inch of my life, by Ivan. By then, I couldn't leave, I was too damaged, too far gone. I believed everything he told me, that no one would want someone who's 'damaged' and everyone believed me to have been killed by the same fire that killed my parents, so they wouldn't look for me. Only Clint knows the full truth of what happened, I was scared to tell him, and it took me months to open up and let anyone in. I had to be given a psych evaluation to prove I was, in fact, brainwashed and wasn't in my right mind."

"Is that just a nice way of saying that you were mentally insane and that you might as well have been put in a wacky shack?" Maria asked, earning a shaky laugh from her friend.

"You can say that, I still struggle with the memories and nightmares, the guilt keeps me awake as late as four in the morning most nights."

Maria put a comforting hand on the assassins shoulder, reassuring her that she was alright.

"I'm struggling too, Tasha. I struggle with the guilt of what my father did to me, guilty that I didn't tell anyone and get out of that place until I had gone off to college. As a result of the neglect and abuse, I struggle with depression and self-harm, albeit, I haven't cut in over three years, but the temptation is still there. Our past experiences make us who we are today, Nat. We're strong, kick ass women who don't take anyones bullshit, not anymore at least."

Natasha gave a small smile, feeling a lot better after talking.

"Now, let's get out of here, i'm starting to get claustrophobic, I don't know how Barton does it." Maria added, allowing for her and Natasha to begin crawling out of the various tunnels. Natasha looked at Maria, taking in the oversized t-shirt and navy blue sweat pants that were obviously Steve's.

"Have you been stealing clothes from Steve after the fire?" She asked.

"Yeah, Pepper tried to get me to go shopping the day after the fire, but I just said I felt sick. I haven't really been feeling up to it, but I don't mind wearing Steve's clothes."

"Well, you aren't anymore. It's only socially acceptable to wear your boyfriends clothes as pajamas or after you've fucked. Tomorrow we're going shopping, and I don't care if Pepper and I have to drag you out kicking and screaming." Natasha said, half joking half serious as they exited the vent, earning strange looks from Thor and Jane as they went to their respective floors.

"I'll never understand you mortals."

Steve and Tony looked up as Maria walked in to the room, silently heading into the bathroom as they waited for the shower to turn on before continuing their conversation.

"So, i'm proposing to Pepper over dinner tomorrow night, and Clint is proposing to Natasha at the surprise birthday party Maria and Pepper are planning. Which is also when our bet ends, and I haven't tried to kill Maria once, by the way. Anyway, Clint and I want you to join us because we figured that you know what types of things girls' like."

Steve sighed.

"I don't know, Tony."

"Please Capsicle? If you're a good boy you can get Maria a present to let her know how much you love her." He begged, which continued for more than twenty minutes before the soldier finally agreed, on the verge of shoving Tony's head through the ceiling.

"If I say yes will you shut up and go away?" Steve asked, rubbing his temples to soothe the headache he always got when the billionaire acted like a four-year-old.

"Thanks Cap...Maria's been in the shower for awhile, shouldn't we go check on her?"

Steve looked up, recalling how Maria had told him that she struggled with depression and self-harm, attempting suicide three times by the time she was thirteen. The soldier immediately got up and went to the bathroom door, jiggling the door handle, only to find it locked.

"Maria? Are you okay?" Steve asked, knocking on the door.

Silence

"Maria, babe, open the door."

Again, silence.

Steve got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach that made him feel physically ill.

"JARVIS? Unlock the door." Tony ordered.

"I'm sorry, sir, but Agent Hill has given me strict orders not to let anyone in." The AI told him.

"Well, I override that order! Now do it!" He snapped, allowing for the lock of the door to click unlocked.

Steve barged into the bathroom, and what he saw made his heart nearly stop. Maria was up against the shower door, rocking back and forth, her knees pulled protectively against her chest. Blood ran down her arms, dripping onto the stone tile floor. Steve kneeled down in front of her, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw she was alert and the cuts weren't as bad as they seemed.

The Agent rested her head against his chest, mumbling apologies to him like there was no tomorrow, ashamed of herself to let her stoop so low.

"Shh, it's alright. We all have these days. JARVIS, send Bruce down."

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	30. Shopping

**A/N: Here's the next chapter! In it, Maria get's a surprise visit from someone. Not gonna say who though, y'all will have to wait and see!**

Maria sat on her and Steve's bed as Bruce examined the lacerations on her arms.

"Well, they aren't life threatening, I can tell you that just by looking at them, although they came pretty close." He explained, cleaning the cuts with anti-septic, making her cringe at the stinging pain.

"Are there any other cuts I should know about?"

Maria sighed and lifted up the blood stained t-shirt, showing just her stomach, to see there were more cuts.

Each one got deeper and deeper.

"I did these ones yesterday." She stated.

"These were really deep Maria, i'm surprised you didn't lose consciousness." Bruce answered, looking at the three cuts that lay just below her belly button and the three cuts just above it.

"I was fighting it all day yesterday. They were bleeding on and off."

Bruce said nothing, just continued to clean the wounds before getting up and leaving, allowing Steve and Maria to speak alone.

"Why did you do it?" He asked, sighing and sitting down beside her.

No answer.

"Were you trying to kill yourself or something?" He asked.

Maria sighed and looked up, Steve looked deeply distraught, not wanting to see her in this much pain, which made the woman feel guilty for what she had done.

"No, i've just been stressed lately, alright? I was nearly murdered a few days ago and on top of that, my father got out of rehab yesterday and he's been trying to contact me." She explained, letting out a huff of air and lying down on her back, hands on her forehead.

"He's not going to be hurting you again, Maria. I understand how you feel, but maybe he's a changed man."

Maria laughed harshly, folding her hands on her stomach.

"You have no idea what it feels like to feel worthless, called worthless all day and everyday, blamed for your mothers death 24/7. Beaten everyday. Whipped, kicked, burned, punched, cut, as I begged for him to stop, only to make things worse. Pushed down stairs, dragged by my hair across the floor, shoved into walls, left alone with his drug addicted, also alcoholic friends who tried to get me to do stuff with them, I was terrified, Steve. At least once a month I was sent to the hospital for broken bones and cuts that needed stitches. I didn't know how much more I could take before I gave up. I attempted suicide three times by the time I was thirteen, and two more times at sixteen, only for my friend to find me just in time. Want to know what my father said each time? _You should have tried harder. _He didn't give a rats ass about me!" She snapped, her voice getting louder each time.

Standing up, Steve pulled her into his arms, holding her as she cried.

"I know i'm sorry, but he wouldn't be trying to contact you if he didn't want to have anything to do with you. But, I can understand where you're coming from, it hurts to see you in this much pain, I don't know what i'd do if anything happened to you."

"I'm sorry, I won't do it again, I promise. Please don't tell Fury, I don't want another psych evaluation done." She said, her voice muffled against his chest.

"I won't, don't worry."

* * *

The next day, Maria, Pepper, and Natasha were at the mall, shopping for new clothes for Maria.

"So, Bruce told us about what happened yesterday. Are you okay?" Pepper asked, putting a gentle hand on the brunettes shoulder.

"I'm fine, just have a lot on my mind."

"Well, if you ever want to talk, we're always here, willing to listen." She said, walking into a nearby store.

Maria said nothing as she looked through the racks of the clothes, easily picking out clothes she liked or were similar to the ones she had before the fire.

"Maria, we need to get you a dress, a little surprise for Steve, hm?" Natasha said, raising an eye brow that made the Agent roll her eyes.

"Already covered." Pepper answered, returning with a dark blue, strapless dress. It looked short to Maria, ending at mid thigh, but was beautiful none-the-less.

"Fine, no point in arguing, I might as well try it on."

"No need, we're the same size...well, before I got pregnant that is." Pepper said, chuckling as Maria took the dress. **(A/N: Picture of dress is on profile)**

"You can wear it to the...thing...on Friday."

"What thing?" Natasha asked crossing her arms, her green eyes looked between them questioningly.

"Nothing, just pick out a nice outfit and wear it on Friday." Pepper lied.

_She's been taking lessons from Tony. _Maria thought.

"Yeah, Pep, you do know that she's a spy assassin for a living right?"

Pepper ignored the other woman, walking through the rest of the store.

* * *

They continued shopping throughout the day, getting some maternity clothes for Pepper, since she seemed to look bigger for almost four months pregnant and got some matching shoes for Maria's dress, while Natasha got a more conservative looking black dress that went to just above her knees and some flats. The women eventually decided to head to a nearby cafe for lunch after a quick, unexpected run in with the guys, who seemed to be fidgety, especially Tony and Clint.

As the women looked over the menu, Maria felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Maria?" An all too familiar voice asked.

Turning around, Maria's eyes widened as she saw who she was staring at.

"Dad"

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	31. Daddy Dearest

**A/N: So, here's the next chapter, enjoy! I don't own any characters accept forAnna, Danny, and Lilith. John is the name of Maria's actual father according to the comics.**

Maria looked at her father as if she had seen a ghost, standing up, she motioned for the man to follow her, allowing them to walk outside so they could talk with little interruption. Her father, John, wore a black coat and blue jeans, he looked thinner than she remembered him, his tan complexion looked weathered, his gray eyes alert to his surroundings.

"You've grown into a beautiful woman. Your mother would have been proud." He told her, brushing a strand of dark hair out of her face, causing Maria to flinch away from his touch. As she did so, she could've sworn she saw something in his eyes. Hurt? Anger? She didn't know, and as soon as it appeared, it left his facial features.

"What are you doing here, Dad?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"Look, i'm sorry, I know you might be a little angry at me_" He started, only for her to cut him off.

"A little angry? You neglected me and abused me. Left me with your friends when you and Ella were too drunk or drugged up to even walk or see properly so they could sexually abuse me...they touched me in places no nine-year-old should ever be touched or groped! You gave me depression and told me to try harder to kill myself! The only person who stood up for me was Danny! And you think i'm _a little angry _at you?" She asked, glaring at him with hatred in her eyes, not caring that people were starting to stare at them as they walked by.

"I know, and i'm sorry. But after my years in rehab, I realized how wrong I was to treat you that way, especially after Ella died of a drug overdose a week before I had gone to rehab, and not a day goes by that I don't feel an ounce of guilt for the pain I put you through. I promised you that I would become a better father once I got out, and i'm going to keep that promise." John explained, his voice cracking.

The twenty-five-year-olds eyes nearly bugged out of her eye sockets. Was her father seriously on the verge of crying?

Maria sighed.

_I can't believe i'm doing this..._She thought, blinking away tears that threatened to fall. Despite all her father had done to her, and no matter how much she wanted to hate him, she couldn't. The man was still her father.

Maria placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, shocking him.

"Look, Dad, i'm willing to work on fixing our relationship...what's left of it anyway, even if we do fix things, I don't know if i'll ever be able to trust you a hundred percent again, I can barely trust Tony and the others." She answered.

John smiled and moved to hug her, only for her to once again back away.

Hurt flashed once more in his eyes.

"Right, well, I best be going. Here's my cell phone number, i'm staying with your older brother and his wife, Anna, at his apartment on 42nd street." He said, and began to walk away, hands in his pockets.

"Dad, wait."

The fifty-year-old turned around, waiting for her to begin speaking, his gaze stern, reminding her of Fury.

"On Friday, we're throwing Natasha a surprise birthday party, and you're welcome to come if you'd like, Danny and Anna can also come too, Tony won't mind. It's at the tower, assuming you know where that is." She said, clearing her throat as she spoke, choking back tears.

He smiled.

"I would like that very much. Thank you."

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	32. The Proposal-Part 1

**A/N: Here's the next chapter you guys! I may update again tonight, i'm not sure, it depends. Enjoy!**

Maria got home and sat on the couch beside Steve, resting her head on his shoulder, taking her dark hair out of the usual tight bun.

"How was the trip?" He asked, turning to face her, his sketch book in his lap.

"Good, I saw my father today, he honestly wants to fix things from the looks of it."

Steve smiled.

"So, there's gonna be an I told you so?" He joked, earning a glare and an elbow to the ribs.

"He's coming to the party with my brother and possibly my brother's wife."

"You never told me you had a brother...or a step-mother." He said, turning to face her once more, putting down his pencil.

"Yeah, I love my brother dearly, he was the only family member I felt truly loved me. I hate my step mother though, she was just as bad as my father."

"How so?" He asked, returning to drawing in the sketch book.

"She was addicted to drugs, and she would leave me and my brother to go get high. Ella, my step-mother, would come home and hit me over the head with a frying pan, me more than my brother, Danny. I was always left unconscious for at least an hour, the whole day if I was lucky enough. One day, she hit me so hard it broke my jaw and I was unconscious for three days. My father and Ella were more emotionally abusive to Danny. Danny always tried to stand up for me, but then Dad and Ella would turn on him. Ella died when I was eighteen, a week before Dad was forced to go to rehab, she died of a drug overdose." She said, entwining her hands with Steve's as he continued to draw, while Pepper and Tony got ready to go to dinner.

Pepper and Tony sat at the restaurant later that night, thankful to be out and about, away from all that drama with Loki.

"So, Maria saw her Dad today, she invited him and her brother to the party on Friday." Pepper said, taking a bite of her pasta as Tony gave her a stern look.

"No, absolutely not, there is no way that a child abusing drunk is going to be in my tower." Tony said.

"Tony, just give it a chance. He honestly wants to fix things with her and the party is a good start, and he went to rehab for his problems. Please? For me?" She begged, putting her hand on top of his, looking at him with her pale blue eyes as he sighed in defeat.

"Fine, but if I see any sign of him becoming violent, he's out...Pepper, there's something I want to ask you."

The blonde nodded as if telling him to go ahead, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. Tony stood up, taking her hand in his as he knelt down on one knee, a black velvet box in his hand.

"Virginia Rose Pepper Potts, I have loved you since I first saw you all those years ago. You have kept me alive and have been by my side through everything. Will you marry me?" He asked, opening the box to the most beautiful ring Pepper had ever seen. A diamond ring in the dead center of the band with two sapphire diamonds on either side on the band.

After what felt like hours, Pepper finally responded, wiping tears from her face.

"Yes, I will marry you, Tony."

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :) the picture of the ring is on my profile!**


	33. The Party-Part 1

**A/N: Here's the next chapter, this is the party chapter...one of them atleast, i'll have a separate one shot on how the others reacted to Pepper and Tony's engagement! Enjoy!**

It was the day of the party and Maria and Pepper were on their way back with Natasha in tow. Now, getting Natasha out of the tower was no easy task, the woman had put up a fight, saying things like; "I feel sick" and "I want to spend time with Lili." They eventually compromised, however, and had Lili go with the women. Once she had left, they immediately got to work on decorating the main lounge. Blowing up balloons and hanging up party streamers, a banner that read; "HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATASHA" hung on the bannister of the stairs that lead to the bar. The guests had arrived when they put the rest of the food out; chips and dip, shrimp, fruit, cupcakes, cookies, etc.

Most of the guests included, Agents of SHIELD, including Nick and Phil, friends of Tony's and Pepper's from Stark Industries, Rhodey, and many others.

"They're coming!" Jane called, running into the room, clutching her side in exasperation from running so fast.

"Positions! JARVIS, turn off the lights!" He ordered, allowing for the AI to turn the lights off so that it was pitch black.

"Why it so dark?" Lili asked as Natasha put her down, still clutching the little girl's hand.

Before she could reply, the lights came on, blinding them, and they saw a crowd of people and decorations, some people they knew, some they didn't.

"SURPRISE!" The crowd shouted, allowing for confetti and balloons to fall from the ceiling, on top of them.

"What is all of this?" She asked as Clint approached them.

"It's your birthday, remember? Pepper and Maria set up this party." He answered, brushing a strand of hair out of her face as Lili picked up a balloon.

Natasha sighed.

"Well, I guess we'll go and get...dressed."

Maria sat at the bar wearing the blue dress she had gotten a couple days before after Pepper had insisted. She had yet to see Steve and was getting anxious that John and her brother would not arrive.

"Maria, your father and brother are here." Tony said, tapping her on the shoulder as not to startle her.

"Better get this over with then." She said, sighing in frustration as she approached the two men who were standing awkwardly by the elevator, talking to Pepper and Natasha, who excused themselves when they saw the younger woman approach.

"Maria, that dress is a little short for you...but you look as beautiful as always, something you inherited from your mother." John told her, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you, Dad. Hi Danny, how's Anna? You two have kids yet? I haven't seen you since your wedding a few years ago, so I wouldn't know." She asked, her eyes lighting up as she saw her brother, who was almost an exact replica of her, they both had the same tan complexion and dark hair, but the man had gotten their mothers blue eyes.

"Anna and I have been well, and she is actually eight months pregnant with a little boy. She actually had to kick John and I out of the house to come to this party, her friend will be with her until we get back." He told her, chuckling as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"So, who is this Steve that Pepper and Natasha told us about?" John asked, handing his daughter a gift, confusing her as she took it, reluctantly.

"You guys know who he is, Captain America." She answered, turning around to glare at Pepper and Natasha who waved innocently at her from across the room.

"Yes, but who is he to you?" Danny asked, raising an eye brow at his little sister.

"My boyfriend, Steve Rogers, would you like to meet him?" She asked, as they nodded, watching as Maria left to find Steve, who talked to Tony and Clint, wearing a blue polo shirt and black slacks, unaware of her approach.

"Steve, babe?" She asked, tapping him on the shoulder.

Steve turned towards her, doing a double take when he saw what she was wearing, his eyes roaming every inch of her body as Tony and Clint tried to contain their laughter.

"Watch out Maria, he's undressing you with his mind." Tony joked, causing Maria to roll her eyes while Steve glared at him.

"Anyway, my father and brother are here and they want to meet you." She explained, watching in amusement as Steve groaned in protest.

"Do I HAVE to?" He asked.

Maria put her hands on her hips.

"Yes, at least say hi!"

"Yeah, well it all starts out with 'hi' then it turns into a talk about politics."

"Oh, grow up! News flash, that's not what happens in todays world." She said, grabbing him by his hand and leading him to the two men.

"When's the wedding? They already argue like a married couple." Clint said, Natasha slapping him upside ahead at his comment.

"Dad, Danny, this is Steve Rogers, Steve, this is my father and my brother, Danny." She introduced them, her arm linked with Steve's.

"Nice to meet you, sir." He said, shaking both men's hands.

"Please, call me John."

"So, this is the famous Captain America we've heard so much about." Danny said as he shook his hand, watching with amusement in his eyes as Maria glared at him slowly, mouthing the word, 'NO' as if to say, _don't bring up any of that unless you want me telling embarrassing stories about you to your children. _

Steve chuckled in response to Maria's not so inconspicuous reaction.

"It's alright, I get that a lot. Could I get any of you a drink?" He asked.

"Water for me, but i'm sure Maria would like a margarita."

Maria blinked rapidly when her father asked for water instead of alcohol.

_Wow, maybe he has changed_ She thought as Steve and Danny left and retreated into the kitchen.

"Pardon my intrusion, but Maria never mentioned having a brother." Steve said, getting the margarita mix out from the cuboard.

Danny chuckled.

"It's fine, she doesn't really talk about personal things, she's always been that way. I'm not surprised really, she's probably ashamed to have me as a brother." He said, pouring some water for John and making a martini for himself.

"Why do you say that?" Steve asked, grabbing a beer from the refrigerator for himself.

"Because, the day she was born I promised to protect her. When Dad started to abuse and neglect her when she was four or five, I tried my best to keep Dad away from her, especially when he beat her to within an inch of her life, when I was younger, i'd threaten to call the police or child services, and as I got into my teens, i'd physically try and stop him, but he would turn on me whenever I did. When I went to college, I constantly worried about her, I was always there when she was in the hospital due to the abuse and suicide attempts, Dad could never be bothered. I feel guilty, like I could have tried harder, I could have followed through with my threats to report him."

Steve put a hand on the thirty-year-olds shoulder.

"Maria isn't angry with you, she adores you. She knows you tried your best to protect her like you promised her all those years ago and that's all that matters. Are you angry at him?"

"I'm more angry at him for even touching Maria, but if Maria's willing to put the past behind them, then so am I. I'm glad Maria has found you, Steve, you seem like a great guy." Danny said, patting him on the back before bringing the drinks to Maria and John.

Steve sighed.

_Now back to trying to resist the urge to punch John in the face._ He thought, before walking back to where they sat on the couch, putting an arm protectively around her as they continued to talk.

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	34. The Proposal-Part 2

**A/N: Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!**

It was nearly eleven o' clock when John and Danny decided to return home and get back to Anna, who was probably starting to get worried about them.

"Steve, it was a pleasure meeting you and being here, but Dan and I should get going." John said, shaking Steve's hand.

John leant over to the other man and whispered in his ear so that only he and the soldier could hear.

"Take care of her better than I ever did." He said, giving him a pat on the back and leaving with his son.

"I hate to say this, Maria, but I told you so." Steve said, chuckling as she playfully slapped him on the arm, already getting a little drunk as she started her second margarita.

"JARVIS, shut off the music." Clint ordered.

The AI did as he was told.

"Can I have everyone's attention please?" He asked, pulling Natasha out to the middle of the room by the hand as she tried to resist.

"Clint! What are you doing?" She whispered through clenched teeth as everyone gathered around to stare at the couple.

"She's not pregnant, is she Barton?" Coulson called from the crowd, making the pair roll their eyes. If it was Tony making those comments, they would've thrown something at him and left the room like Natasha had done a couple weeks before.

"It isn't mine!" Tony said, putting his arms up in surrender as Pepper glared at him and elbowed him in the ribs.

Clint cleared his throat, awkwardly, turning back to Natasha.

"Anyway, I have something very important to ask Nat, and all of you are witnesses to this, but, as you all know, we've been dating since the battle of New York last year..." He started, and knelt down on one knee, making Natasha's heart beat a mile a minute as some people in the crowd gasped. Clint grabbed her hand.

_Is he really..._Her thought trailed off as the archer started to speak.

"Natasha Alianovna Romanoff, I have loved you since I first saw you almost six years ago in France, and let me just tell you, deciding to go against Director Fury's orders to kill you was by far the best decision of my life. I met you, and got a new partner, I fell in love with you in the process. Will you marry me?" He asked, opening the box he had in his hand where a diamond ring was, and Natasha nearly felt sick from all the anxiety that plagued her mind as tears started to flow down her pale cheeks and looked around as everyone stared at her, waiting for an answer.

"I think you broke her, Barton!" Fury called as Pepper pulled out a chair for the other woman to sit in.

"Nat? Are you okay?" Clint asked, worry evident in his blue eyes.

"Yes" She choked, wiping the tears from her face

_When the hell did I get so soft? _She thought, as he helped brush some tears from her face.

"Yes you're okay, or yes you'll marry me?" He asked.

"Yes...I will marry you." She said as everyone applauded and cheered, while Fury, Tony, and Coulson each gave Maria ten bucks since she had inevitably won the bet.

After all the excitement of the proposal had warn off, everyone went back to what they had been doing before. Maria, who was just down right drunk from one too many drinking games, was flirting with and groping Steve every chance she got, and doing karaoke...badly...she was also brutally honest, telling people right to their face that they were wearing an ugly outfit...and telling them of the abuse she suffered from as a child.

Tony got it all on video as Natasha talked to Rhodey, who had flown in from Malibu for the special occasion.

"Congratulations on your engagement...Natalia, right?" He asked, shaking her hand.

"Natasha, I haven't gone by that name in years." She said, giving a forced smile at the mention of her old name.

"Right, I remember Tony said something about that...uhm..is your friend alright?" Rhodey asked, causing the assassin to turn and see Maria passed out on the couch.

"Shit! Steve!" She called, waving the soldier over and pointing to Maria who lay unconscious.

"Maria, babe, wake up." He said as he knelt down, shaking her shoulder as she groaned in protest.

"She's going to have a killer hangover tomorrow." Natasha said, as she helped Maria sit up, Steve lifting her into his arms.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Rhodey asked as Bruce walked up.

"Yeah, she's just drunk. She'll be fine." Steve said, walking towards the elevator as Bruce tossed him a bottle of advil.

"She'll need them tomorrow!" He told him, chuckling as Steve rolled his eyes.

Once in their room, Steve put the advil on the bedside table and took Maria's shoes off as he lay her on the bed.

"Steve?" She groaned, putting her hands over her eyes in attempt to shield them from the bedroom light.

"Yes, Maria?" He asked, as she started to caress his face, having just enough energy to do so.

"I'm horny, I need to fuck." She said as Steve blushed fiercly at the comment.

"Yeah, come talk to me when you're sober." He said as he helped her remove the dress, only managing to get her into a t-shirt before she passed out once more.

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	35. Found

**A/N: Here's the next chapter! Hope y'all like it!**

Maria awoke the next morning with a killer headache and no memory of what happened the night before, she could only hope she didn't do anything she would regret later on as she took a couple of advil.

_Stark is not going to let me live this down..._ She thought as she got up, noticing that all she was wearing was one of Steve's t-shirts and her underwear.

"Okay...where are my pants?" She asked to herself, looking to her right to see Steve wasn't beside her as he usually was. She sighed and pulled on a pair of his sweatpants, too lazy and in pain to actually care, and made her way up to the kitchen.

"Well, look who it is." Tony said, earning a dirty look from everyone as Maria took her usual place between Steve and Natasha.

"Why? What happened last night?" She asked, taking another advil and putting her head in her hands.

"Well, you started to grope Capsicle over here, and then you tried to get Bruce to hulk out, and failed, then, you were telling women that their outfits were ugly, they looked like prostitutes, and they looked like a raccoon with the amount of makeup they were wearing...it was no one from SHIELD though, so don't worry. Oh, and karaoke...bad karaoke. And on top of that, you told people about the abuse that you suffered from as a child and expressed your disbelief that your Dad wanted to patch things up." Tony said, laughing as Natasha and Bruce gave her an apologetic look as Maria put her head on the table.

"Who else saw it?" She asked, her voice muffled against the table as Tony picked up his phone.

"Three million people on YouTube."

Pepper crossed her arms and glared at her fiancé.

"Well, that's just fantastic! How are you going to explain that to Nick and Phil?" She asked, putting her hair in a tight bun.

"Oh, Fury and Coulson left way before Maria got smashed, they left after Clint proposed to Natasha." Bruce said, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Speaking of which, Nat, what's engraved on the inside of your ring?" The archer asked, abruptly changing the subject for Maria's benefit.

"It's engraved?" She asked, taking the ring off her finger and looking inside it, chuckling at what was written.

_**You and I remember Budapest very differently ~Clint **_

"And what does yours say?" She asked, taking off Clint's ring, losing it when she saw what he had engraved into his.

_**Just like Budapest all over again! ~Nat**_

"So, we have two weddings to plan...but i'm just wondering...what the hell happened in Budapest!?" Jane asked, Lili sitting in the chair between her and Thor, who was too busy playing with Jane's long dark hair to notice.

"Yeah, what Auntie Jane said, what happened?" Lili asked, getting down from her chair and walking towards them to sit between the two assassins.

"That's for us to know and for you to find out." She said, ruffling the child's hair.

"Oh yeah, Capsicle, guess who lost the bet and has to run around the city in their underwear?" Tony asked, Steve groaned as he realized what Tony was talking about as the billionaire put a hand on his shoulder.

Steve got up and took Maria's hand as the two of them walked out without another word.

"I swear, we live with a bunch of children." Natasha muttered, as Lili glared at her before getting up and running out after them.

More than half an hour later, the group sat in the lounge playing a game of poker, waiting for Steve to return, although, they wondered if Maria was with him since she had yet to return.

"Sir, Director Fury's on the line." JARVIS said.

"No ones home!" He called, sitting down beside Pepper.

"Stark, that doesn't work anymore!" Fury interrupted, causing Tony to jump.

"Security breach! That's really not fair, Fury."

"Yet it's fair that you can hack into SHIELD whenever?"

Silence.

"Point made."

"Fury, to what do we owe this pleasure?" Thor asked, sitting down beside Jane.

"We found Loki...well, Agent Hill found him, he's here at SHIELD. Thor, you're needed to bring him back to Asgard as soon as we're done with interrogation." Fury said, looking around at everyone with his good eye.

"Where's Rogers?"

"Running around the block...enough said...so, Maria engaged Loki in combat? By herself?" Tony said.

"Yes...oh, and delete that video off of YouTube." He ordered, before ending the call, only one thought was on everyone's mind.

Steve was not going to be happy.

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	36. Hurting

**A/N: Here's the next chapter! I'm sorry if it's short, i'm starting to get writers block, so ideas are welcome.**

Once Steve had gotten back to the tower, he was immediately alerted about what Maria had done, and it was safe to say he was pissed.

_I'm going to kill her..._He thought, walking through the halls of the helicarrier, stopping when he saw Maria sitting at one of the desks, breathing heavily as a nurse from the infirmary wiped the cuts on her face.

Upon seeing Steve, Maria told the nurse to stop by gently pushing her away as she got up, allowing Steve to pull her into a hug, pulling away to carefully study her.

"Why the hell did you go after Loki alone? You're so stupid Maria, my God!" He ranted, pulling her into another hug.

"I know, i'm sorry." She said.

"Hill, you're wanted to interrogate Loki." Fury called from his office, leaving as the Agent nodded and walked on shaky legs to where Loki was being held. She didn't know what was wrong with her, she was fine that morning before going after the God of mischief. Maria's head still throbbed, it felt like her skull was splitting in half, and the advil only made it worse...she had trouble breathing, she could barely stand, let alone walk, and her side hurt like hell.

The brunette walked into the room where the God in question sat at a table, his feet chained to the chair so he couldn't get very far if he got up to walk around, and his hands were handcuffed.

Without his staff, he was weak.

"Why are you working with them?" She asked, her voice growing hoarse as she took her seat in the chair across from him.

"Who's them?" He asked, a mischievous gleam in his green eyes as Maria glared at him, not in the mood for any of his games.

"The Red Room." She stated, leaning back in the chair.

No answer.

"We could sit here all day, I have time, i'm technically still on medical leave." She added, sighing as Loki glared at her.

"What do I get if I tell you?"

"Definitely not set you free. You killed hundreds of people, Asgardian and American alike, and you think we'll set you free?" She snapped, her eyes burning with a fierceness that not many people have ever seen in her.

"Are we alone?" Loki asked.

Maria stood back up, walking shakily around the small room, clutching her side as it screamed in protest.

"Just you and me." Maria lied, hoping that Loki was oblivious to the fact that Fury and the others were on the other side of the one-way window.

"You are not well." He stated, folding his hands on the table with what little movement he could muster with the handcuffs on as Maria clutched the table for support.

"Why would you care?" She snarled.

Loki sighed.

"So, you require information about the Red Room, do you not?" He asked, changing the subject.

Maria nodded.

"The Red Room has promised to give me some of their assassins, along with fame, and fortune. You also have someone they want."

"Yes, they want Natasha, but they aren't going to get her back, over our dead bodies." She said as a wave of dizziness swept over her.

Before the God could respond, Maria's legs gave out from under her and she collapsed to the ground.

As she lay on the ground clutching her side and Loki stood up, Fury, the rest of the Avengers, and Coulson came into the room.

Maria was fading fast.

"Maria, what's wrong?" Steve asked, kneeling beside her, propping her up to lean on him for support.

"I-I can't breathe...everything hurts." She said.

That was the last thing she remembered, before everything went black...

**A/N: Any predictions? Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	37. Diagnosis

**A/N: Well, here's the next chapter! Y'all get to find out what's wrong with Maria! Enjoy! I'd like to thank Foxbracken-Pheonix Everren for giving me the idea for this chapter! I'd also like to thank her, All For Jesus, and everyone else who has reviewed, favorited, and followed! It means a lot to me :)**

For the second time in a week, the group sat in SHIELD's infirmary, on news pertaining to Maria.

"Captain Rogers?" The Doctor asked, shaking Steve's hand.

"Is she alright?" He asked, abruptly standing up.

The Doctor, Abby, sighed and motioned for him to follow her, away from the others who looked on in interest.

"She has a benign tumor on her ovary that was causing all the difficulties. Most of these types of tumors don't require treatment and go away on their own, but this one had gone un detected for days, maybe even weeks. With your permission, we would like to operate on her to remove the tumor." She said, coming to the window that looked into Maria's home. Seeing her hooked up to various equipment, unable to breathe on her own, broke his heart.

"Do whatever you have to do to help her." He said, before walking back to the group to alert them on what was going on.

"I say, after this, we should have some shwarma." Tony said, receiving a glare from Natasha and Clint, who held a sleeping Lili, who was oblivious to what was going on.

The group waited for another two hours, Steve pacing in front of them, getting on their nerves.

"Capsicle, if you don't stop pacing i'm going to blast you sky high." Tony threatened, looking up from the magazine he had been reading.

"Stark, i'm sure if it was Pepper on the operating table getting a tumor removed, you would be pacing also! Итак, закрой свой рот, прежде чем я закрыл его для вас" Natasha snapped, looking at him with her emerald green eyes.

"What's a tumor, Mommy?" Lili asked, finally waking up from her nap.

"Well, Lilith, it makes people really sick, and if they don't fix it, they'll keep getting sick." Natasha explained as Doctor Abby walked back out.

"Well, the surgery wasn't an easy one, we almost lost her at one point. In the future, she may have difficulty having kids of her own, but we won't exactly know until that day comes." She explained, gesturing for them to follow her to Maria's room.

Maria looked at them as they entered with tired, gray eyes.

"How long have you been up for?" Steve asked, sitting down beside her.

"Only ten minutes or so, they wanted to do more testing and tell me what was going on..." She said, trailing off as she looked at the group.

"Where's Thor?"

"Thor brought Loki back to Asgard, he'll be back sometime tomorrow." Coulson answered, watching as Tony played with a stethoscope on the counter.

"Maria?" A voice asked from the door way, causing her to look up and see her brother, Dad, and her brothers pregnant wife standing there.

"You and Dad have brought Anna I see...how'd you get here? Only SHIELD workers...and Pepper, are allowed on the helicarrier." She asked, sitting up as Abby gave her some pain killers, which she took gratefully.

"Director Fury called us and had Agent Coulson pick us up, he figured you would want to see us." Anna explained, brushing her light blonde hair out of her face, placing a hand on her eight month pregnant belly.

"So, how's our little God son doing?" Maria asked, gesturing to Anna's pregnant figure.

"Who made you guys God parents?" Danny asked, jokingly punching his sister and Steve in the arm.

"Anna" She said.

Danny gave his wife an accusing look, who put her hands behind her back innocently.

"Anna! We had an agreement that we wouldn't tell them until the baby was born!" Danny exclaimed, and Anna put her hands up in surrender.

"I figured your sister and Steve had a right to know sooner."

Danny sighed in frustration, running a hand through his dark hair.

"Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Maria teased, poking her older brother in the stomach, while he did the same, mimicking her every move.

"So, when she acts like a child, it's funny and cute, but when I act like a child, i'm told to grow up and act my own age." Tony said, taking a seat next to Pepper on the far side of the room, pouting like a child who doesn't get what they want.

"Maybe it's because she only acts this way when she's on pain killers, Mr. Stark." John said, before turning to his daughter.

"How are you, Maria?" He asked, giving her a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"I feel just like that time I smoked cigarettes to the point I threw up." She said, crossing her arms.

Steve gave her an incredulous look, making the woman smirk.

"Oh, Maria didn't tell you that story? Well, when she was thirteen, I walked out to the balcony in our bedroom, because we shared a bedroom until I moved out, and caught her smoking a cigarette. What did I do? I went out and bought her five packs of Menthol cigarettes, after her first one, I asked, _how does it taste, Mar? _To which she replied, _pretty good. _So I made her just keep smoking them. By the time she got to her third pack, she threw up all over the place." Danny explained, causing everyone to look at Maria, who's face was red with embarrassment.

"Yes, and I vowed never to have another cigarette ever again. And I haven't had one since." She said, before laying back down and closing her eyes in an attempt to get some much needed rest.

"Despite all i've done to her, I still love her. I'm surprised she and Danny are even willing to forgive me." John said once everyone had left and it was just him and Steve in the room.

"If you love her, then why'd you do what you did?" Steve asked, a bitter edge to his voice.

"I was over come with grief after Mary's death. Maria looks so much like her mother, that most days, I couldn't even bare to look at her, much less be civil towards her. But I loved her then, and love her now. She and Danny are the only things left of Mary I have, if I lose them, I have nothing." John explained, unaware that Maria was awake and listening to every word.

She grabbed his hand that was just within her reach, shocking him.

"You won't lose us, Daddy." She assured him, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

"You haven't called me Daddy since you were eight." He choked, unshed tears in his eyes.

Maria only gave him a tired smile in response, before, once again, falling into unconsciousness..

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	38. Awkward

**A/N: Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!**

A little over a week later, Maria and Steve slept soundly in their room, having heard nothing from Thor, who decided to spend more time in Asgard. Maria was abruptly woken up when her phone vibrated on her bedside table.

"Hello?" She asked tiredly, rubbing her eyes.

"_Hey sis, did I wake you?" _Danny asked.

"Oh no, I was just conveniently awake at two in the morning." She said sarcastically, reaching over and shaking Steve's shoulder in an effort to wake him up.

"_Oh good, I thought I was interrupting something important...it's Anna, she's in labor, the doctors say the baby could be here in the next hour at the rate things are going."_

"We'll be right there, give us twenty minutes." She said, hanging up without even waiting for a reply, she got up putting her jean jacket on over her pajamas and her black flip flops.

"Steve, wake up!" She ordered, picking up one of the throw pillows off the ground and throwing it at him, almost instantaneously waking him up.

"Huh? What?" He asked groggily, looking at Maria, who smirked at his confused expression as he picked up the pillow.

"Where's the fire?"

"No fire, it's Anna, my sister-in-law, she's in labor." She said, making Steve groan and pick up the comforter to put over his head.

"Should we wake up the others?" He asked, his voice muffled by the comforter.

"No, we'll just have JARVIS tell them when they all wake up, i'll even leave a note up in the lounge." She said as they left, not bothering to get changed, making sure to be quiet seeing as Natasha and Clint's floor was directly below them, and they woke up at any small noises.

True to Maria's words, they arrived within half an hour, seeing John sitting in the waiting room, holding a tray with two cups of coffee on it.

"Hey Dad, where's Danny?" She asked, sitting down beside her father.

"Anna had to be rushed into an emergency c-section, the baby started to go into distress." John said, handing each of them a cup of coffee.

"Shouldn't you be resting?"

"Dad, I had the surgery ten days ago. I haven't been in any pain since Day Five, I can assure you that if I was in any pain, I wouldn't have rushed over here." She explained, pulling Steve down to sit in the chair next to her.

"Is there a reason you're wearing a see-through night shirt and yoga pants?" John asked, gesturing to her pajamas.

Maria sighed, she was just thankful she was wearing her black night shirt and black bra, and the yoga pants as added cover up.

"I was in a rush, and I had to nearly drag him out of bed." She said, nodding her head at Steve.

"Hey...although, you do look really sexy in that..." Steve said, pulling her into his lap, kissing her down her neck.

"Steve, not in front of my father!" She scolded, slapping him playfully on the arm as a nurse cleared her throat.

"You're here for Anna Hill?" The nurse asked, she was about Maria's age with long brown hair and a pale complexion that almost looked white against her blue scrubs.

Maria pulled her jacket tighter around her.

"Yes, is she alright?" John asked, standing up as Maria and Steve followed suit.

The nurse smiled, a warm, genuine smile.

"Mother and baby are just fine, the baby didn't want to breathe at first, but that was easily fixed." She explained, leading them to the room where Anna sat in the bed, holding a small blue bundle while Danny sat next to her, bags under his eyes.

"Hey guys...Maria...nice outfit?" He said.

Maria scowled at him, finally taking her jacket off and throwing it on the chair, not caring how exposed she was.

"What's his name?" Steve asked, changing the subject for his girlfriends benefit.

"We named him, Ryder Daniel Hill...would you like to hold him, Maria?" Anna asked.

Reluctantly, Maria nodded, allowing for the older woman to pass the bundle gently over to her, taking the newborn into her arms.

"He's cute...sure he's yours Danny?" She asked, looking into the infants blue eyes, little fringes of black hair peaking out from the little blue hat he wore. Maria looked up at her brother as the infant grabbed her index finger in his tiny hand.

"Haha very funny, better watch out Rogers, she's going to get ideas being around kids all the time."

Maria ignored his comment, she was already concerned for the baby, especially seeing as John was going to be around him 24/7 she didn't want her nephew growing up the way she did, and she would make sure he was safe if anything happened to his parents.

"Would you like to hold him, Steve?" She asked, giving him a small smile.

"I really shouldn't_" He started, only to be cut off by an all too familiar voice.

"Oh come on Capsicle! Just hold him, it may as well be you two in the near future."

They turned to the door to see Tony and Pepper standing off to the side.

"Stark? What are you and Pepper doing here?" He asked, taking the small infant from Maria.

"I got up to get a drink of water and saw the note Maria left on the fridge, so, naturally, I woke Tony up and we came here." Pepper explained.

"Hey, will you look at that? The kid likes Spangles!" Tony said, watching in amusement as Ryder grabbed Steve's t-shirt in his small hands, eventually reaching up to grab his nose.

"Yeah, well this is going to be you and Pepper in a few months!" Steve said, gently taking the baby's hands off his face, giving the baby to John.

"Yeah, and since you two are here, you will be the first to know, that Tony and I found out the sex of the baby yesterday."

"Really? What are you having?" Anna asked as the nurse came in to check her vitals and the scar from the c-section.

"Tony and I are also having a baby boy." Pepper said, giving everyone a small smile as she cooed at little Ryder who was passed over to her.

"Congratulations." Maria said, sighing, "well, Steve and I better be getting back, it's getting late." She said, getting up from her spot, bidding a goodbye to everyone.

Later that morning, the group, excluding Steve and Maria, sat at the kitchen table.

"Where are Lady Maria and friend Steve?" Thor asked, having gotten back from Asgard earlier that morning.

"Agent Hill and Mr. Rogers did not arrive home until six this morning, Mr. Odinson." JARVIS cut in.

"Yeah, and they were really loud too." Clint muttered, grunting as Natasha kicked him under the table as he took a bite of his french toast.

"Why is this, friend Barton? We're they having a quarrel?" Thor asked.

"No...not even close..." Natasha said, trailing off as the couple in question walked into the room, everyone, excluding Thor, seemed to know exactly what they did last night.

Tony smirked at them, about to open his mouth when Pepper gave him the, _'say anything and you're sleeping on the couch for the next week.' _look.

Maria was limping and cringed as she sat down at the table.

"Why are you sitting like that, Auntie Maria?" Lili asked, causing Maria and Steve to blush violently.

"Uh...I fell and got hurt really bad." She lied, hesitating, happy that Lili seemed to buy it and went back to eating her breakfast.

Natasha sighed and got up, walking to where the two sat, bending down so only she and Maria could hear what was said.

"Don't worry, the first time's always the worst...it gets better." She whispered, making Maria blush a brighter red, and on top of that, Pepper slipped her a tampon under the table with a note that obviously read, _**'for the bleeding' **_

Maria and Steve face palmed before they got up, having had enough of the awkward silence, taking some food for themselves and heading back down to their floor.

Tony coughed, scratching the back of his head.

"Awkward"

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	39. Reassuring

**A/N: Here's the next chapter! I apologize for the awkwardness of last chapter! Enjoy!**

Pepper walked back up into the kitchen later that day to see Tony half asleep and Bruce reading the days news paper.

"Well, I hope you're happy!" She said, hands on her hips as she turned to face him.

"What did I do now?" He asked, picking his head up off the table to look at his fiancée, who stood off to his left, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Maria and Steve won't come up from their floor because of the looks everyone was giving them at breakfast, especially you!" She said, raising her voice ever so slightly.

"All I did was give them a thumbs up! I don't see how that made things awkward, if anything, it made things awkward when you handed Maria a tampon!" He snapped, rubbing his tired brown eyes.

Pepper sighed, her expression softening when she realized he was right, and then she saw how tired and sleep deprived he was.

The blonde put a gentle hand on his shoulder and sat down in the seat next to him and Bruce.

"Tony, when have you last slept?" She asked softly.

"Two...three..." He said, trailing off as he started to fall asleep.

"Two or three what? Days?" She asked, deeply concerned for him as Bruce handed her his cup of coffee to hand to the tired billionaire.

"Maybe four" He replied, yawning as he put his head in his hands.

"Why haven't you been sleeping?" She asked, looking at him with big blue eyes.

"With all the events that happened recently, and on top of you being pregnant, I guess I forgot to sleep." Tony said, looking back up at her, half expecting to be reprimanded.

"What are you worried about?" She asked, hugging him as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Everything about being a Dad worries me, Pep. I'm worried that i'm going to be a horrible father, just like mine. My Dad never told me he loved me, never played catch with me or took me places for some father-son time, or one day you'll just get sick of all this and walk out on me, taking him with you." He explained, gesturing to her pregnant belly, half forgetting that Bruce was sitting right next to him.

"Tony, I wouldn't walk out on you in a million years, and I definitely wouldn't cut you out of our son's life if I did. You're going to be a great Dad, and I know you're going to be the best one you can be. He won't hate you, and I know that you're going to let him know how much you love him every chance you get." She assured him.

Bruce cleared his throat and looked up at them.

"Pepper's right, Tony. You think you're the only guy that has these fears? I'm pretty sure most Dad's, even Mom's, have these fears with their first child. You and Pepper are going to be great parents, and you've got all of us for support...except for 'The Other Guy' he can't help you there." Bruce said, giving a reassuring smile and a pat on the back to Tony before heading down to the lab.

"See? Everyone has these fears, and we have tons of people willing to help us raise him and protect him."

"Yeah, let me build him a suit and we've got protection covered." He muttered under his breath, causing Pepper to glare at him.

"No, i'll allow Clint to teach him archery and Natasha and Maria to teach him self-defense and how to shoot a gun, but i'm drawing the line at building our son a suit." She said, laughing as he got up, nearly tripping over the leg of the chair as he did so.

"Where are you going?" She called, as he walked towards the elevator.

"To give Maria and Cap a pep talk!"

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	40. Water Fight

**A/N: Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!**

As Pepper sat on the couch doing paperwork for Stark Industries, Tony came up from Steve and Maria's floor, completely red in the face.

"What happened? You look like you've seen a ghost?" She asked, getting up and following him into the kitchen where he reached into a closet to the left of the stove, pulling out a super soaker.

"Let's just say i'm getting payback at Spangles and Agent Chill." He said.

Pepper sighed and mentally face palmed.

"Oh Tony, you didn't! Did you?" She asked, closing the distance between them.

"How was I supposed to know that they were gonna be going at it?" He asked, filling the water gun up to the rim with cold water.

"Well, when you hear noises coming from their bedroom or you see clothes lying all over the place, you're supposed to knock!" She exclaimed, punching him playfully in the shoulder.

"I did knock! But they were so loud they didn't hear me or something...I saw more of them than i've ever wanted to see." He said, shaking his head in disgust.

"So, you're going to get into a water gun fight with them?" She asked, crossing her arms and sighing.

"Yep..want to join me?"

She shook her head.

"They will kill you, and I won't stop them because if you sprayed me with a super soaker, i'd want to kill you too." She said, reaching into the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water seeing as she couldn't drink coffee or soda for the duration of her pregnancy.

"Oh come on, Pep! Join me, it'll be fun. They won't kill you!" He begged, taking a few bottles of water for himself as part of his 'ammo'.

"No, Tony. I'm not going to take part in your childish games because you saw Steve and Maria."

"Well, you'd think after this morning and how much pain she was in, they'd take a break...but nope."

"That didn't stop us, either." She said, putting her blonde hair into a messy bun and turning on her heel to walk out of the room...that was until she felt a cold stream of water run down her back that made her cringe.

Pepper turned to see Tony holding the super soaker behind his back, looking up at the ceiling and whistling innocently. The woman smiled, going into the same closet and pulling out another super soaker.

Usually, she wouldn't take part in any of his childish antics, but he was starting to annoy her and it wasn't even noon.

This was war.

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	41. Busted

**A/N: I'd like to thank y'all for the feed back! I will bring everyone's opinions into consideration, and I fully intend to add more about Pepper's pregnancy in the following chapters! Enjoy!**

Tony and Pepper ran all around the main lounge with the super soakers, returning to the kitchen every now and then to refuel their "weapons." The pair even got Natasha, Clint, and Thor to join in on the water fight.

"I swear, someone's going to be dead by the end of the day." Clint said, shaking his head as he grabbed a super soaker for himself, spraying the redhead in the process.

"Are you kidding me, Barton!?" She asked as he handed her one, noticing that her white tank top was, in fact, see-through.

"Yep...nice bra by the way." He said, watching as Natasha scowled and sprayed him in the face and torso, soaking his black t-shirt all the way through as Bruce and Lilith walked in.

"What's going on?" Bruce asked, walking past the two, Lili's hand still clutched in his, as he reached into the refrigerator, pulling out a pine apple to cut up.

"Join in, it's a water fight!" Clint said.

Bruce and Lilith shook their heads as he began to cut up the fruit.

"I'd rather 'The Other Guy' not make an appearance, besides, Lili is helping Jane and I with an experiment."

"Yeah, Uncle Bruce needs me. I've gots small hands." Lili said, holding up her hands to show them as Natasha and Clint shrugged, and the two assassins ran out of the kitchen.

"I swear, you're the only normal one here, Lili pad." He told the little girl, who smiled at him as he picked her up and spun her around so that she hung to his back, allowing for him to grab the bowl of fruit and heading back to the lab.

Upon hearing the commotion, Maria and Steve rushed up to the main lounge, hoping the place wasn't too badly damaged.

When the elevator doors opened, the place was in chaos, everyone was running around, soaked to the bone, spraying water at each other from said super soakers. The walls were dripping with water, tables were over turned on their sides...the trash cans lid was missing, only for Thor to run by moments later using it as a shield. The two were even more shocked to find Pepper in on it, usually, the CEO didn't participate in such childish games.

_Being pregnant must do that to you..._Steve thought as he and Maria walked cautiously into the lounge.

_I'm surprised Natasha and Clint aren't in on this..._Maria thought, taking note that her fellow Agents weren't anywhere to be seen.

Spoke too soon.

"Bombs away!" Clint yelled from above as he and Natasha sprayed the two with their soakers, looking up, they saw the archer in the vents with Natasha, who waved.

Everyone else, upon hearing Clint's yelling, immediately ganged up on Steve and Maria as they took cover in the kitchen.

"Alright, this means war." Maria said, ringing out her dark hair, allowing for water to drip onto the hard wood floor with a loud splash.

"Yes, ma'am." Steve agreed, taking off his t-shirt and ringing out the white fabric that had been soaked all the way through with ice cold water. The soldier walked over to the closet and took out the last two super soakers, handing one to Maria and then taking out his shield.

"Why, do tell, is your shield not in our room?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, darlin'" He said, filling up the two super soakers.

Maria and Steve launched themselves into the chaos, spraying anything and anyone in their path. Although, what no one knew was that someone was watching furiously.

Maria elbowed Tony in the stomach as he made a move to grab her, only for her to be too strong for him as she knocked him flat on his back.

"Are you ever not going to be too easy?" She asked, spraying him in the face.

The Agent screamed as Thor grabbed her from behind, one arm firmly holding her in a head lock, the other holding the super soaker.

"Steve!" She shouted, trying to pry Thor's arm from around her neck, trying desperately to kick the weapon out of his hands.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Fury.

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	42. Doctors Visit

**A/N: So, here's this chapter...uh yeah...not much to say here...Enjoy!**

Everyone, excluding Jane, Lili, and Bruce, sat on the couch dripping wet, while Fury paced in front of them, hands clasped behind his back.

Coulson stood quietly off to the side.

"Now, i'll ask again...what the hell is going on?" Fury asked, looking at each and every one of them.

"It was Starks idea, sir." Clint said, patting Tony on the back as Fury glared at them, and then turned to Pepper and Maria.

"And you...do you two honestly think it's wise to participate in your conditions?" He asked, looking at the two women with a stern gaze.

"With all due respect, sir, i'm not the one that's five months pregnant." Maria pointed out, nodding her head towards Pepper, who crossed her arms.

"Well, i'm not the one who just had a tumor removed less than two weeks ago." She retorted.

"Bite me"

Fury sighed.

"Neither of you should have been participating! I figured that I could give all of you a nice little vacation from being heroes, I do just that and all of you are playing like children with super soakers? Dr. Banner called me expressing concern for everyone's safety, and I arrive to see Thor holding Agent Hill in a head lock. Un believable." He ranted, shaking his head.

"Ha, Agent Hill just got a lesson from her boss." Tony said, earning a glare from the Director.

"I'm in charge of all you mother fuckers, and I can't afford for all of you to be seen acting like children!" He scolded, looking around at all of them once more.

Pepper looked at her watch.

"Oh shoot! Look at the time, Tony, we have a Doctors appointment to get to." She said, tapping her watch as Tony looked at her, confused.

"But we don't have to be there until_" He started, only to be cut off by a glare from Pepper.

"Doctors appointment it is!" He exclaimed, getting up as his fiancée grabbed him and dragged him to the elevator.

Fury sighed as they left, shaking his head once more.

"Alright, all of you insufferable children go take showers and put some dry clothes on. Agent Coulson will stay with you since you just proved you can't be alone for more than five minutes."

Coulson nodded in agreement as everyone got up and went to their respective floors, mumbling something about Fury being a 'party pooper'

Coulson looked at Fury.

"Should we tell them, sir?" Coulson asked, looking up at Fury.

"We'll tell them when the times right. We've heard very little from the Red Room to suspect anything at this point in time."

Pepper sat on the table in the examination room as Tony started to, once again, play with the equipment.

"Tony, you're going to break it." She scolded, pinching the bridge of her nose, which is what she always did when she was getting stressed or annoyed.

The Doctor, a young petite woman by the name of Sarah Reynolds came in, her strawberry blonde hair pulled into a tight pony tail, her eyes a grass green color.

"Hello, Ms. Potts, Mr. Stark, how are we doing today?" She asked as she turned on the ultra sound machine.

"I'm great, how are you?" Pepper asked, watching as the woman put the cold gel on her belly, making her shiver.

"I'm just great, have you felt him kick at all?" Dr. Reynolds asked as she moved the wand over the gel around Pepper's stomach as the baby appeared on screen.

"No, we actually haven't, is something wrong?" Tony asked, concern lacing his features as Pepper squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"No, everyone's different, you should feel some kicking sometime in the next few days to a week. The baby looks healthy, although a little on the small side, have you been eating enough?" She asked, looking at the two.

"Yes, actually everyone's been a big help, they actually try and make me eat more than I can handle on occasions. Although, I do admit that I don't eat a lot at lunch or dinner because i'm just so tired and feel a little queasy that I pass out as soon as I get home from work. They do wake me up to eat, though, I just haven't really had much of an appetite." She explained, looking into the Doctors green eyes.

"Well, some women do experience that, but please do make sure you get a lot of protein and nutrients so the baby can grow a little bigger, because right now, it looks like he'll be six pounds, maybe a little less. Alright?" Sarah asked, switching off the machine and printing out some pictures for them to take back.

"Yes, of course. I'll pass that along to everyone else at the tower." She answered, half joking half serious.

Sarah chuckled.

"Well, let me just check your blood pressure and i'll send you on your way." She said, wrapping the blood pressure cuff around Pepper's upper left arm as the doctor pressed the pump to tighten it, before eventually releasing it.

"Ms. Potts? Have you been stressed lately?"

Concern laced the Doctors tone, making Pepper sit up on the table and sigh.

"I've been a little stressed at work and everything that's happened recently, why?" She asked, her blue eyes wide with worry.

"Well, right now your blood pressure is really high, and that could actually stress out the baby. It's also a symptom of pre-eclampsia, so just to make sure it is, in fact, stressed related or not, i'm officially putting you on maternity leave." Sarah explained, getting out a piece of paper and jotting down a quick note on it, handing it to Tony.

"Just head to the nurses station on the way out and hand that to Nicole or Jodi, and one of them will call Stark Industries and let them know what's going on." She explained, giving a small, reassuring smile as Tony and Pepper left the small examination room, only one thought in everyone's mind.

_Will the baby be alright?_

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)**


	43. Picnic

**A/N: Okay, so, before I start this chapter, I have a question for y'all...As you hopefully know, a lot of people ship Stony (Steve and Tony) and I know some of you ship it too, so my question is: what is it about Steve and Tony that make people ship them together? Like, I have a hard time picturing it because I don't really see any chemistry between them at all. I'm in no way homophobic, I was raised to accept people for who they are, and i'm bi, so obviously i'm accepting. Could someone please explain?**

Pepper and Tony drove in silence, neither having very much to say about the appointment.

"Are you alright, Pep?" He asked, coming to a stop as he grabbed her hand with his own.

"No, Tony, i'm not." She said, wiping the tears from her blue eyes as she looked up at him.

"Everything will be alright, I promise."

"What if it's not? What if something is seriously wrong?"

Tony sighed.

"Well, we won't actually know what's wrong until the next appointment or he's born, but I can promise you one thing; I will always be there for you no matter what happens, you and our son are the most important people in my life." He assured her, cupping her face in his hands, kissing her on her forehead.

"Thank you, Tony. I needed that." She said softly, playing with her engagement ring and looking out the window.

"Why are we at the park?" She asked, watching as children ran around, playing a game of tag, Lili being one of them. In the distance, the rest of the Avengers and Coulson sat on a picnic blanket under the same oak tree Lili had been sitting under when Loki had paid her a little "visit."

Tony smiled and kissed her once more, before unbuckling his seat belt and getting out of the car, briskly walking to Pepper's side to open the door, gently taking hold of her hand and helping her out.

"Well, the Doctor said that you were getting too stressed, so I gave Coulson a call and told him about the situation, so he set up a picnic." Tony said as they walked to where everyone sat on the light blue picnic blanket.

"Auntie Pepper! Uncle Tony!" Lili called, stopping her game of tag and running over to them. It was obvious they were her favorites of the group besides Clint and Natasha. Tony picked her up and spun her around, making her laugh.

"How's my favorite little Blackhawk doing?" He asked, setting her back down beside the two assassins, making her giggle at the nick name.

"Blackhawk?" Natasha asked, as Lili started to play with the engagement ring on the woman's finger.

"Yeah, a combination of the Black Widow and Hawkeye." He answered, taking out the chocolate chip cookies that Steve made out of the basket, along with a dish that no one, other than Natasha, knew what it was.

"Natasha made it." Clint said, watching as Natasha took a couple putting them on a plate and handing the white styrofoam plate to Pepper.

"It's Russian Pelmeni, it's poached pastries with a meat filling, my mother made it a lot for family gatherings before she and my papa died." She explained, handing the pastries out to everyone else.

Coulson was the first to try them seeing as everyone else was a little nervous to eat anything the assassin made.

"These are good, how'd you learn to make them?" He asked, taking another bite, while Tony eyed his wearily.

"I'm Russian" She answered, watching in amusement as Tony smelled it, Pepper rolling her eyes.

"It's not poisoned, is it?" He asked, keeping Pepper from taking a bite.

"Why would she have reason to poison us?" Steve asked, serving him self some more of the pelmeni along with some cheesecake Bruce had picked up at the store.

"I agree, I don't think she'd intentionally poison us. You're just paranoid." Maria said, raising an eye brow at the billionaire.

Tony sighed and nodded his head at Pepper, telling her it was okay to eat it.

She rolled her eyes.

"Excuse me for being cautious with two master assassins around." He muttered.

Lili stood up and skipped over to the two.

"Auntie Pepper, can you come push me on the swings?" She asked.

Pepper smiled, about to say something when Bruce cut in.

"She isn't supposed to exert herself too much, Lili pad." He said, ruffling her hair as he pulled her down into his lap.

"No, it's alright, I can spare a few minutes." She said, getting up and taking the girl by the hand and walking over to the swing set, watching the group get up to play a game of baseball a little bit off in the distance.

"Higher Auntie Pepper!" She called as Pepper pushed her, gently as not to push the child off by accident.

"I'll take it from here, Pep. Why don't you go sit down?" Tony asked, placing his hand on the small of her back.

She gave him a small smile, about ready to protest when she knew that he was right. Sighing, she turned and walked back to the picnic blanket, looking back and forth between Tony and Lili at the swings, and the group playing baseball with a group of teenagers who had decided to join in.

This is a good day.

**A/N: Let me know what y'all think, please review :)**


	44. Labor

**A/N: Hey guys! So, this is the second to last chapter, hope y'all like it! **

***Three months later***

Pepper was eight months pregnant on this warm June evening, upon going to their last appointment, everyone was pleased to find that her blood pressure was back to normal for the most part. She lay in bed, tossing and turning trying desperately to sleep, and she would too, if the baby wasn't kicking up a storm.

She sighed.

"Why won't you let Mommy sleep?" She mumbled, tiredly rolling over on to her side.

"You alright, Pep?" Tony asked, placing a hand on her shoulder, turning her to face him.

"I would be if your son was out of me and not constantly kicking." She answered, propping her head up with her hand.

Tony chuckled.

"One more month, you can do it, Pep." He said, rolling over to get back to sleep.

"Easy for you to say. You don't have to go to the bathroom every five minutes or have to push something the size of a bowling ball out of you." She muttered, before getting up and heading to the bathroom.

As she got up, it was then that she felt it, a stream of water making it's way down her legs into a puddle on the floor.

_No no no, it's too early! _She thought as the first contraction hit her, an intense pain in the abdomen that felt as though someone was ripping her open with a knife.

"Tony, wake up!" She whispered, shaking his shoulder with urgency.

"What? Five more minutes" He mumbled, brushing her hand away and rolling back over.

Pepper sighed and grabbed a pillow, hitting him with it as hard as she could.

"You won't live to see the next five minutes if you don't get your lazy ass out of bed and bring me to the hospital!" She said through clenched teeth.

Tony sat up and looked at her with wide eyes.

"It's time?"

"No, I just want to go visit the other patients!" She snapped sarcastically, pinching the bridge of her nose as he got up, quickly getting dressed.

"JARVIS, tell the others that Pepper's in labor and we'll meet them at the hospital." He said, making sure to grab Pepper's bag as they left the room.

"Right away, sir."

They got to the hospital in record time, Tony breaking almost every traffic law on the way there. As soon as a nurse saw them, she got Pepper into a wheel chair and wheeled her into her own private room.

"Hello, Ms. Potts, how are you doing?" Dr. Reynolds asked as Tony helped Pepper get dressed in the gown.

"I feel like I was hit by a bus because this idiot doesn't know how to use a condom." She answered, pointing a thumb over at Tony with the hand that didn't have him in a death grip as she was hooked up to a monitor.

Tony looked at her, opening his mouth to say something when Sarah cut in.

"Don't worry, it's the pain and hormones talking." She said, chuckling as Tony's mouth formed an 'O'

"So, how far apart are your contractions?"

"About twenty minutes or so." Tony answered as Pepper squeezed his hand when another contraction swept over her.

"Alright, well i'm just going to see how dilated you are." The Doctor explained, lifting up the blanket to check the woman who kept glaring at Tony.

"Alright, you are four centimeters dilated. I will come back soon to check up on you, and hopefully by mid day, we'll have a baby." She said, putting the blanket back down and taking off her gloves before leaving the room.

Pepper sighed.

_This is going to be a long day..._

**A/N: Just to let you know, I don't know how the whole birth process goes down, and there is no way I was gonna ask my parents! Let me know what y'all think. Please review :)**


	45. Jason Alexander Stark

**A/N: So, here's the last chapter! But don't worry, I'll post some more Avengers stories until I can post a sequel, which will probs be Clintasha based! Enjoy!**

Pepper was in labor for another twelve hours, the Doctor continually coming in to check on her before moving her into the labor and delivery room at around noon.

"Do you want anything, Pep?" Tony asked, rubbing her back soothingly.

"What I want...is for you to NEVER get me pregnant again, are we clear?" She asked, her voice deadly calm.

"Well_" Tony started, only for Pepper to grab a fist full of his t-shirt, pulling him down just inches from her face.

"If you so much as think to come near me without any means of protection again, I will make sure that shrapnel enters it's way into your heart, do you understand?" She asked sweetly, her blue eyes looking at him in Fury. Tony cringed at the threat, but nodded as Pepper grabbed his hand, screaming out in pain as the Doctor checked on her.

"Alright, Ms. Potts, you are fully dilated. On the count of three, I want you to push. Ready? 1...2...3!" Sarah counted, and Pepper pushed as hard as she could.

"I-I can't, it hurts." She choked, leaning back in the bed, drenched with sweat.

"Yes you can, Pep. You're doing a great job, it's almost over." Tony assured her, causing the woman to look up at him with a murderous glare.

"Pepper, the head is out, you only have a couple more pushes to go." The nurse, Nicole, a young lean woman with dark hair and pale skin, agreed with Tony, probably so she wouldn't have to see her kill him. Pepper pushed again and again, crying out with each one, literally, she was crying, her face was red from being in labor for twelve hours.

_Now I wish I had gotten the epidural when I had the chance..._She thought, her knuckles turning white, while Tony's hand was turning red from Pepper's crushing grip.

"Is it over yet?" She asked, breathing heavily, sneaking more death glares at the billionaire from the corner of her eye.

"Almost, Mommy! One more push and you'll have a beautiful baby boy!" She said, giving her a warm smile.

As another contraction ripped through Pepper's body, she screamed and pushed with all her might, nearly breaking Tony's hand.

Hearing the loud cries of an infant, Pepper leaned back in the bed and sighed as Tony kissed her and went over to cut the umbilical cord.

"It's a boy!" Jodi, a nurse with pale blonde hair, said as she wrapped the fair skinned, dark haired child, in a light blue blanket, handing him to Pepper, who cried tears of joy at seeing her son for the first time.

* * *

Meanwhile, the group sat in the waiting room, having been there for twelve hours straight, only heading to the cafeteria every once in awhile to get some coffee or something to eat. Lili was bouncing up and down in anticipation, wanting to meet her little cousin.

"Yeah, this is never gonna happen." Maria said, watching as Lilith kept pulling on the sleeve of Natasha's blue jean jacket, earlier everyone had also heard Pepper cursing at Tony from down the hall as she was moved down to a delivery room.

"Never?" Steve asked, a hopeful edge to his voice.

Maria gave him her, _we'll talk about it later, _look.

"Mommy, Daddy, I want a little sister!" Lili announced, making Clint and Natasha choke on their coffee, coughing uncontrollably.

"Looks like the little Barton has spoken." Thor said, chuckling as Jane choked back a laugh.

"Well, unfortunately, the miscarriage was probably the only chance for a long time to have kids without any help." Natasha said, smoothing back Lili's blonde hair.

"Infertile?" Jane asked, looking up at the red head from her magazine.

She sighed.

"Not necessarily, the serum that the Red Room injected me with will make it a little bit more difficult to conceive." She answered, looking up as Tony walked into the room.

"Where's Rhodey?" He asked, noticing the Colonel was no where to be seen.

"Right here."

The group turned to see James, along with Phil and Fury walking down the hall.

"Sorry, Stark. Had some SHIELD work to attend to." Coulson said, nodding at the others, acknowledging their presence.

"So, how'd it go?" Rhodey asked, picking up Lili who was pulling on his pants leg, wanting to be noticed.

"It's a baby boy, six pounds two ounces." He said, and gestured for everyone to follow him to Pepper's room.

* * *

"Everyone, this is our son, Jason Alexander Stark." Tony introduced, kissing Pepper and the newborn on top of their heads.

"He looks like you, Stark. Let's just hope he's got Pepper's personality." Fury said, shaking Tony's hand firmly.

"Well, he's already got Pepper's eyes, it'd be a shame if he became another Tony." Bruce said, nodding his head to the infant, making everyone look closer. The little baby had the same bright blue eyes that Pepper had, but almost everything else was Tony's, besides the fair skin that the child inherited from the CEO.

"He so small." Lili said as Rhodey put her down on the bed, allowing for her to poke the infant in the belly, looking at him quizzically as little Jason grabbed her hand in his, making her smile as though it were her birthday or Christmas.

"Well, you were this small once."

Congratulations, Tony." Rhodey and Coulson said, each shaking his hand and giving him a pat on the back as Tony beamed at his fiancée and Jason as she handed the infant over to Natasha and Clint.

"Did you ask them, Tony?" She asked, gesturing to the assassin's who cooed over the tiny baby.

"Ask us what?" Clint asked, looking up as Natasha handed Jason to him ever so carefully, the infant peering at them with his big blue eyes.

"Obviously he didn't, we were wondering if you and Nat wanted to be Jason's God parents?" She asked, watching as everyone took turns holding the small bundle.

"We would love to, Pepper. Thanks." Natasha said, giving the new parents a small smile, which they happily returned.

For once, everything was falling back into place.

_**Jason Alexander Stark was born at 12:30 PM on June 22nd **_

**A/N: That's the end of the story! As I said though, I'll post other stories while I think of an idea for a sequel. The sequel will be Clintasha, I can assure you that! Please review :)**


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